Parliament has amended the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada to allow the consolidation of concurrent Accounting Chamber member competitions. The change was proposed by Transparency International Ukraine to prevent the institution’s staffing crisis from deepening further.
The competition for six vacant positions on the Accounting Chamber was launched with the adoption of a reform law in December 2024. The vacancies were to be filled through an updated selection procedure involving a special Advisory Group of Experts (AGE), in which international experts hold the deciding vote. Internationals were to make up half the AGE — nominations from international partners had already been received in spring 2024. The remaining three AGE members were to be nominated by parliamentary factions and groups. MPs made several attempts to agree on the list but, after nearly a year, still failed to vote on it and establish the AGE.
In the meantime, sitting Accounting Chamber member Yelyzaveta Pushko-Tsybuliak recently submitted her resignation. Once she leaves, only four of the eleven members required by law will remain — and a further competition for an additional vacancy is set to launch immediately after her departure.
“The law did not provide for such situations, so combining the two competitions was impossible. The amendment we proposed creates that option,” explained TI Ukraine Deputy Executive Director Ivan Lakhtionov. “We have been unable to launch even one competition for nearly a year — running two in parallel would require additional resources and prolong the staffing crisis at the supreme audit institution. We thank Roksolana Pidlasa for advocating this necessary amendment to her colleagues.”
The two competitions will now be merged into one, with a single Advisory Group of Experts selecting seven new members.
Bringing the Accounting Chamber to full staffing by year-end is one of the structural benchmarks under Ukraine’s new 2026 IMF support program, and also bears on Ukraine’s EU accession commitments.
The Accounting Chamber is Ukraine’s supreme financial control body, responsible for overseeing the effectiveness of both the state budget and international partners’ financial assistance.
We have been unable to launch even one competition for nearly a year — running two in parallel would require additional resources and prolong the staffing crisis at the supreme audit institution.
Ivan Lakhtionov
