On April 14, the Anti-Corruption Committee decided for the third time on possible representatives from the Verkhovna Rada to elect the Head of the ARMA.
All the previous ones were unsuccessful because the MPs in the session hall did not support these candidates.
Who is to join the commission this time?
- Mykhailo Ivanenko, a lawyer. In 2019, he ran as a self-nominee for the Verkhovna Rada from Kyiv oblast.
- Yurii Kiskin, a lawyer. Yurii is member of the Association of Ukrainian Defense Manufacturers, freelance consultant to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, as well as Adviser to the CEO of Ukroboronprom. In 2020, Kiskin ran for the Kyiv City Council from the “Servant of the People.”
- Serhii Vernydubov, also a lawyer. Son of ex-MP Ivan Vernydubov. Serhii Vernydubov was his father’s assistant-consultant when the latter was an MP of the 4th convocation and represented the party “For United Ukraine” and an MP of the 6th convocation, this time from the “Party of Regions.” Under Leonid Kuchma, Ivan Vernydubov worked as Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and also was a trustee to Yanukovych in the 2004 presidential election.
Now the MPs in the session hall will have to decide whether these people will be able to hold a transparent and independent competition and elect a new head of the ARMA. Over the past year, parliamentarians twice expressed doubts and did not support the committee’s candidates.
Let us remind you that the National Agency has been without a head for almost a year and a half. Last summer, the Prosecutor General, the NABU Director, the Ministers of Justice and Finance, and the Head of the Financial Monitoring Service each elected a representative to the commission.
TI Ukraine has repeatedly emphasized that the ARMA desperately needs a head. But it is no less important that the competition be conducted as transparent as possible, and the institution be headed by an independent and professional leader.
