Rada adopts bill on rebooting BES
On Thursday, the Verkhovna Rada passed the bill (No. 10439) on rebooting the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) with 239 votes, the necessary minimum being 226, reported Head of the Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Danylo Hetmantsev.
"The text has been agreed upon with partners, with the independent selection of the new head of BES, re-certification, and personnel selection involving foreign experts and Ukrainian business. It could have been better, but it's already commendable," said the first deputy head of the committee, Yaroslav Zhelezniak.
According to him, the new head of BES will be chosen by a commission of six members, half of whom are international experts with decisive voting rights. The re-certification will be conducted by a commission, consisting of six members from both the newly elected BES director and international partners, but suggested by the Ukrainian business community. Additionally, a personnel commission created on the same basis will operate for the next three years.
"Guaranteed independence of the BES director at the level of National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). And many other important changes regarding the institution's independence. There's always room for more and better, but overall it's very good," said Zhelezniak.
He reminded that the adoption of the BES law is a condition of international financing programs, particularly the IMF, amounting to a total of $3 billion.
As reported, on April 11 this year, the Rada approved at the first reading the bill on improving the BES work. Passing this law by the end of June is a structural benchmark of Ukraine's cooperation program with the IMF.
Zhelezniak pointed out that, according to the remarks of businesses, the IMF, and the G7, the bill for the second reading should provide for the submission of one, not two, candidates for the position of BES director to the Prime Minister for approval, and should also contain a detailed re-certification and selection procedure for this position. During the April 11 session, the leader of the Servant of the People faction, Davyd Arakhamia, announced that the IMF, G7, and business comments would be considered for the second reading.