The government approved the draft law on the “reboot” of the Bureau of Economic Security

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) a draft law proposing to "reboot" the work of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES).

This was reported by the Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

The government proposes that only the BES and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) can conduct audits of the financial and economic activities of businesses, regardless of their form of ownership. The National Police and SBU are proposed to be excluded from the list of state financial control bodies.

Shmyhal says that the draft law proposes a new procedure for electing the director of the BES.

"We involve our international partners in this process. These changes are aimed at strengthening the rule of law and improving the investment climate in our country," noted the Prime Minister.

The law is not yet available on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

The MP from “Voice” Yaroslav Zheleznyak criticized the draft law, calling it a "pseudo-reform authored by Tatarov-Shurma without re-certification, change of leadership, transparent competitions." He claims that this document is "another extremely brazen throw by international partners who directly demand a real reboot of the BES, not its imitation."

The head of the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC) Vitaliy Shabunin also spoke against the draft law. He noted that on October 16, the financial committee of the parliament had already approved draft law No. 10088-1 on the "real reform of the BES". It provides for the selection of the head of the BES through a transparent competition and re-certification of key personnel, writes Shabunin. The head of the ACC believes that the BES reform will be blocked by the submitted project.

• Restarting the Bureau became one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fundʼs extended financing program. The memorandum with the Fund talks about making changes to the current law that regulates the activities of the BES. The key goal is to develop transparent criteria for the selection of staff and management of the Bureau. The document also states that BES should be subordinated to the Ministry of Finance, and not to the direction of the government, as it is now.