The President signed the draft law on restarting the BES. What will change?

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed draft law No. 10439 on restarting the Bureau of Economic Security (BES).

This is evidenced by the card of the draft law.

The law establishes mandatory re-certification of employees and gives a decisive vote in the selection and re-certification of BES employees to international partners.

The re-certification will be carried out by a commission consisting of six people from the new director of BES and six from international partners at the suggestion of Ukrainian business.

The new director of BES will be elected by a commission of six members, half of whom are international experts with the right to a decisive vote.

During the next three years, personnel commissions will work: six members from BES and six from partners.

In addition, the law defines the independence of the director of the BES at the level of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, as well as the independence of the BEB as an institution.

Why is this important?

Restarting the Bureau of Economic Security is one of the conditions for Ukraine in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) extended financing program. Support from the EU is tied to this reform.

The memorandum with the Fund talks about making changes to the current law that regulates the activities of the BES. The key goal was 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. A group of ambassadors of the "Big Seven" countries asked to reform the BES, strengthen its independence and efficiency. These reforms are on the priority list for 2024.