Director of Economic Security Bureau dismissed
Photo: ESBU

The Cabinet of Ministers dismissed Vadym Melnyk from the post of director of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, reported the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk om Tuesday.

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The press service of the ESBU reported that Melnyk himself handed in a resignation notice of his own volition.
He was the first and so far the only head of the ESBU. The agency was created in 2021 instead of the tax police.
"The director of the Economic Security Bureau has written a resignation letter due to health issues," says Olha Vasylevska-Smahlyuk, a member of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy.
Another member of the committee, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, said that Melnyk "didn't know until this morning that he wanted to resign."

"When he was appointed first deputy (from the SBU), it was obvious that Vadym Ivanovych would soon be asked to leave. This moment has come," the parliamnetarian added, referring to Eduard Fedorov.

In the new memorandum with the IMF, Ukraine undertook to reorganize the ESBU, strengthening its analytical function. The reorganization involves a review of the legal basis of the Bureau, the introduction of transparent processes for the selection of personnel and management on a competitive basis, attestation of personnel and the introduction of a contract system for employees.

After the reform, ESBU should be transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

The Verkhovna Rada has already registered a draft law on restarting the ESBU, but it has not yet been considered in the legislature.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Danil Getmantsev, believes that the restart of the Economic Security Bureau with the appointment of a new head and re-certification of employees can take place by the end of 2023.

In February 2023, the tax committee of the Verkhovna Rada recognized the work of the ESBU as unsatisfactory, although the Bureau itself disagrees with this.

The ESBU estimated that the number of criminal proceedings brought to court and reports of suspicion are now three times higher than at the beginning of work. Vadim Melnyk, director of the Bureau, explained that the formation of the ESBU is taking place under conditions of war and with limited funding.

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