At its meeting on April 23, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) dismissed seven members of the Accounting Chamber (AC), whose term of office expired on March 15, 2024. 264 MPs voted for this decision.
The MP from the "Voice" faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak said that it is about Viktor Bohun, Andrii Didyk, Vasyl Nevidomyi, Iryna Ivanova, Tsezar Ohn, Ihor Yaremchuk and Andriy Meisner.
"The Accounting Chamber will have 5 members left. But colleagues insist that she will still be able to make decisions (well, thatʼs how they creatively interpret the quorum)," he added.
Zheleznyak believes that the reform of the Accounting Chamber is very likely to take place under the conditions of "US money". In his opinion, this is not the last dismissal from the current Accounting Chamber.
The Accounting Chamber itself announced that the head Olha Pishchanska, deputy head Serhii Klyuchka, as well as members Kyrylo Klymenko, Hennadii Plis and Yelyzaveta Pushko-Tsybulyak remained working there.
The agency noted that according to the final and transitional provisions of the Law on the Accounting Chamber, its meeting is valid if at least two-thirds of the number of members of the AC actually appointed by the Verkhovna Rada are present. That is, 5 members are not enough, but after March 15, when the term of office of seven members, who were appointed in 2018, expired, the Accounting Chamber continued its mandate.
As the non-governmental organization Transparency International Ukraine explains, the chamber will be able to continue working, since there is no requirement in the legislation that all positions or some minimum number of them be occupied. The body will continue to be able to make decisions.
Currently, the working group is working on the reform of the legislation regarding the Accounting Chamber, in particular, on the new competition procedure. Therefore, new members of the body should be appointed after this update.
- The Accounting Chamber is a body that controls the receipt and use of budget funds. He is also responsible for overseeing international aid. The OC got rid of its previous chairman in April 2023 after he (Valerii Patskan) was declared no-confidence. He is a suspect in the case of illegally receiving compensation for housing in 2017-2018 in the amount of 117.65 thousand hryvnias, when he was a MP.
- In December 2023, the Verkhovna Rada appointed four members of the Accounting Chamber, despite the reservations of the G7 ambassadors, and in January 2024, it appointed Olha Pishchanska as the head of the chamber.