Member of the external control commission Pavlo Zhebrivskyi has stated that he is intending to resign unless the Verkhovna Rada regulates all issues pertaining to the commission’s work. Mr. Zhebrivskyi believes that the current version of the law “On the NABU” does not answer the question how the commission is funded and how it performs the audit.

https://goo.gl/c5y17R

Is there really this lack of clarity and what will happen if Mr. Zhebrivskyi resigns (as a reminder, we believe that his appointment is not consistent with the law)? Comments member of the Public Control Council under the NABU and legal adviser to TI Ukraine Kateryna Ryzhenko:

“Appointment of Pavlo Zhebrivskyi by the President as the third member of the external control commission of the NABU on 19 June completed formation of the commission, which had been going on for over a year at the time. Unfortunately, it has not brought any clarity to the process of the audit itself and the work of the commission members.

As of now, only the Law of Ukraine “On the NABU,” Article 26, clause 6 regulates the general procedure of the commission’s selection and work. The law explains to what materials the auditors have access and whom they can interview. At the same time, there is no clear regulation of the process of the commission’s work, the technical side to their work. It is also unclear what sectors of NABU’s work have to be audited and what period of NABU’s work should be assessed. Multiple times, Mr. Zhebrivskyi has spoken about amendments to legislation, methodology and procedure which have already been developed by the external control commission members and referred to the Verkhovna Rada for review. Only when we see the aforementioned groundwork can we assess whether they regulate the existing issues and track whether the audit will take place openly, honestly and effectively. 

If Pavlo Zhebrivskyi does resign in September, the President will be obliged to appoint a new person for the same position. In this case, we hope that this new appointee will comply with all legislative requirements to the commission members.