The United States Embassy in Ukraine supports the reorganization of the State Fiscal Service (SFS) into the State Tax Service and the State Customs Service despite "spurious court challenges."

"Transparent tax and customs administrations are key to domestic and international business confidence in Ukraine. We support Ukraine's Finance Ministry efforts to reorganize and staff leadership roles in the two agencies, spurious court challenges notwithstanding," the Embassy said on Twitter.

As reported, the final stage of a competition for the selection of the State Tax Service's head was held on April 23, 2019, following which the Commission on Senior Civil Service recommended the Cabinet of Ministers appoint Deputy Minister of Finance Serhiy Verlanov to that post. However, the very next day, Kyiv's District Administrative Court announced it had received a claim from the ex-head of the SFS, Roman Nasirov, who was seeking a ban on the appointment of the State Tax Service's head by the Cabinet. At the same time, the court noted that its legal grounds were being evaluated.

At the same time, a competition for the selection of the State Customs Service's head was blocked by Kyiv's District Administrative Court over a claim filed by Member of Parliament from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko parliamentary faction Andriy Antonyshchak.