The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy recommends that the parliament adopt as a basis in a new edition bill No. 10439 submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers on the reform of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB), Head of the committee Danylo Hetmantsev said.

According to first deputy head of the committee Yaroslav Zhelezniak, this decision at the committee meeting on Monday was supported by 17 of its members, while only Zhelezniak himself was against it.

As Hetmantsev said, the new version of the bill for the second first reading provides for the selection and submission to the Prime Minister of Ukraine of no more than two candidates for the post of director of the BEB, as well as the first deadline for independent assessments (audits) of the effectiveness of the BEB activities (the assessment is carried out by a commission after completion first and third years as director of the BEB).

It is also proposed to introduce a modified mechanism for the certification of BEB employees, the duration of which cannot exceed 12 months from the date of appointment to the post of BEB director in the manner prescribed by the bill.

In addition, the document provides for the formation of a disciplinary commission by the newly appointed director.

As noted by Head of the Anti-Corruption Center Vitaliy Shabunin when considering the second first reading, the committee refused to take into account key proposals for real reform: the rules that during the competition for the election of the director of the BEB, the competition commission must propose only one candidate for appointment, were not taken into account.

"The committee proposes that 'no more than two candidates' be submitted for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers. Such an approach undermines the independence of the competition and allows the promotion of tame candidates to the finals of the competition (as, for example, was the case during the selection of the head of SAPO)," Shabunin said on Facebook page.

According to Shabunin, the committee rejected critically important standards for the recertification of BEB personnel, namely, proposals that when recertifying the relevant personnel commissions could be guided by the standard of proof of reasonable doubt.

Shabunin believes that in practice this would make it possible to prevent persons with a dubious reputation and those who have been involved in corruption schemes from working in the BEB, and without this, court decisions would be necessary for such exclusion.

Likewise, the committee declined to support improved competitive procedures for selecting BEB personnel, clearer merit-based selection rules, and the inability to appoint to BEB individuals previously dismissed for failure to recertify.

The committee also rejected proposals to attract experts delegated by international partners to the competition commissions for the selection of BEB personnel and certification commissions.

According to Zhelezniak, the revised version of the bill, like the previous one, was not agreed upon with partners and does not take into account the comments of business, including the Council of Entrepreneurs within the President of Ukraine.

"In short, it seems to me that they are 'deceiving' us and our partners at every step, purely so as not to confuse our hand," the MP said on his Telegram channel.