Lack of efficient staff challenges timely ESB reform, says agency chief

"I would carry out certification twice a year,” he said.

“Because in practice, I understand that I would like to get rid of 10-20% of the bureau's employees who now work inefficiently."

Pashchuk also noted that the Cabinet of Ministers has taken into account the recommendations of international partners and made appropriate clarifications to the recertification bill of all employees of the Bureau and the audit, noting that the competition for the head is proposed by analogy with the competition for the position of National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) director.

"I believe that the restart should be gradual. Understand that it took us about a year to ensure the effectiveness of the work we are currently demonstrating,” he said.

“Imagine that at some point everything stops indefinitely... New people will need at least another year to get up to speed. And frankly, it is not certain that we will be able to recruit honest, decent people for every department and every position. First, where are we going to find them? Second, we are going to stop the cases that are being investigated, and among them are some very high-profile, very complex cases. Currently, in the Central Office alone, over 700 financial-economic investigations have been assigned to detectives. Each of them is supported by an analyst and 2-3 detectives, because the cases are large and complex.”

This leads to the conclusion that we need to gradually reform the system in order not to lose the best practices and to maintain the pace of investigations,” he noted.

“In addition, international partners, including the IMF, constantly emphasize the need to strengthen the ESB’s operational capacity. Imagine if it were to suddenly stop for a few months, six months, or even a year. It will mean that those involved in economic crimes will get an ‘indulgence’ and additional opportunities to cover their tracks for that period of time.”

On Feb. 22, the European Business Association (EBA) stated that the business community in Ukraine did not support bill No. 10439, recently backed by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, which aims to reform the ESB.

“The business community has repeatedly emphasized that the country urgently needs a real reform of the ESB,” the EBA said.

“It is important to ensure the creation of a transparent and independent body that will seek out and punish real economic criminals, instead of being controlled by dubious curators and exerting pressure on transparent companies.”

On Sept. 25, the Verkhovna Rada registered the bill No. 10088 on priority measures for the reform of the ESB. This bill received positive feedback from the business community.

At the end of December, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the bill providing for a new start of the Bureau a year after the end of the war.

On Feb. 1, the EBA appealed to the Parliament’s Chairman, Ruslan Stefanchuk, not to proceed with the vote.

Earlier, the civic movement Manifesto 42 said that the government had submitted to the Verkhovna Rada bills Nos. 10439 and 10440 on the reform of the ESB without final approval and without taking into account the comments submitted by business organizations.

In this regard, the movement called on the President and the Government to prevent the violation of the principles of compromise, which resulted in the cancellation of the warning protest against the arbitrariness of the rear security forces against business.

On Feb. 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with members of the Council for Support of Entrepreneurship under Martial Law to discuss the reduction of law enforcement pressure on legal businesses, the principles of the work of the ESB, as well as the need to support defense industry enterprises, and amendments to legislation.