The Verkhovna Rada did not vote to establish an advisory board of experts for the Accounting Chamber

On August 19, the Verkhovna Rada did not vote for draft law No. 13323, which provides for the creation of an advisory council of experts to the Accounting Chamber (AC).

This was reported by the MP from “Voice” Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Only 219 MPs out of the required 226 voted pro.

The Advisory Council of Experts is one of the important stages of the reform of the Accounting Chamber. It is this commission that is to elect six new members of the Accounting Chamber.

Zheleznyak says that the problem arose precisely with the Ukrainian part of the council of experts, which was determined based on proposals from parliamentary factions and groups. It is about the following:

• Oleksandr Boyko from "Servant of the People";
• Myroslava Maslyak from “For the Future”;
• Oleksandr Rozhko from "Servant of the People".

As for international experts, the list includes the following:

• Lee Summerfield — the Director of the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom;
• Igors Ludborzs — the Member and Dean of the European Court of Auditors;
• Pascal Mounier — the honorary magistrate of the French Court of Auditors.

Reform of the Accounting Chamber

On October 30, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the overall reform of the Accounting Chamber. It provides for:

• a transparent competition for the selection of new members of the Chamber. The vote of international experts will be decisive;
• political and financial independence of the state body;
• reducing the number of members of the Chamber from 13 to 11;
• expanding the powers of AC to audit funds from local budgets, state-owned enterprises and extra-budgetary funds (for example, the Pension Fund);
• external assessment by independent experts with international audit experience every five years;
• establishing work in accordance with INTOSAI standards;
• the obligation of the relevant committees of the Verkhovna Rada to consider the reports of the Accounting Chamber and monitor compliance with its recommendations.

For the second reading, the MPs also added the following provisions to the draft law:

• assessment of the Accounting Chamber itself every three years by INTOSAI experts (similar to the NABU audit);
• financial audit of the Republic of Poland;
• expanding the mandate of the Chamber to audit budget funds used by appellate and local courts;
• correction of the regulation on the audit of the National Bank (the Accounting Office will only audit the administrative expenses of NBU so as not to undermine the independence of the regulator);
• clarification regarding the openness to the media and society of the experts who will select candidates for the positions of members of AC. They will conduct an online broadcast and publish all announcements and decisions;
• accrual of salaries for the management and auditors of SC according to the model of the law "On NABU".

The Accounting Chamber is the body that controls the receipt and use of budget funds. It is also responsible for overseeing international aid. The adoption of the above rules was a requirement for Ukraine to receive over $2 billion in financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United States.

• In October 2024, IMF updated the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies as part of the fifth review of the credit program. Under the new requirements, Ukraine was to implement a number of reforms by the end of December 2024, including adopting a law on the reboot of the Accounting Chamber.

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