The competition for the selection of candidates for the director of the Bureau of Economic Security is entering the home stretch. After checking documents and several stages of testing, 16 out of 43 applicants remained. Who are these people and what are they known for - UNN investigated.
The Bureau of Economic Security was created in the spring of 2021 and replaced the SFS (tax police). The new body received more powers, as well as investigative and analytical functions, which should have contributed to effective work. The BES was to influence economic security through access to databases, without blocking enterprises and repressive methods.
Failed start and "reset"
The Bureau started operating during the full-scale invasion, so it could not immediately show effectiveness. In addition, its director, Vadym Melnyk, had spent half his life in positions in the tax police and, accordingly, a significant part of his former employees moved to the new structure, so the methods of work were difficult to change. In April 2023, Melnyk resigned amid criticism of the BES's inefficiency in 2022. Gradually, the new structure showed quite decent results, including compensation by violating companies for damages to the state budget from UAH 544.3 million in 2023 to UAH 5.3 billion in 2024.
However, constant changes in acting directors did not allow the newly created body to develop normally, and distrust in the transparency of the selection of the director, as defined in the relevant law, and the appointment of employees led to the emergence of an initiative to "reset the BES." Amendments to the law on the procedure for selecting the director and further re-certification of employees of the Bureau were lobbied by People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, as the most vocal critic of the body.
According to the new rules, the commission is formed of three international experts and three citizens of Ukraine. At the same time, any decision of the commission is considered adopted only when at least four members of the competition commission have voted for it, including at least two foreigners.
Two candidates are submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for appointment to the position of Director. They are selected by open vote from among those who have passed testing, interviews and special checks. According to the law, the winners must have the best professional experience, knowledge and personal qualities to perform their duties, as well as meet the criteria of professional competence and integrity.
After submitting two participants of the competition to the Prime Minister of Ukraine for consideration, the Cabinet of Ministers must appoint the Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, who will be considered the winner of the competition, within 10 days.
The commission was headed by Laura O. Stefan, an anti-corruption expert and former director of the department at the Romanian Ministry of Justice. In April 2024, a number of media outlets published a photo of an alleged secret meeting between Ms. Stefan and Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the initiator of the BES reboot. Such a meeting is a direct conflict of interest, which members of the commission must immediately report. At the time, Ms. Stefan commented that she had not been to Ukraine for a year and was working on the commission remotely. Zheleznyak, in turn, confirmed that it was him in the photo, but the meeting was with a completely different person, but did not specify who.
43 candidates from various fields applied for the competition: from public activists to professional law enforcement officers. After checking the documents for compliance with the terms of the competition and the subsequent four tests, 16 of them remained. Currently, the commission is waiting for the results of special checks on the candidates, in particular regarding their assets, in order to verify integrity.
13 of the 16 candidates have experience in law enforcement. Most of the candidates are from the anti-corruption vertical - NABU and SAP. This number is simply explained - the selection procedure is similar to the procedure for selecting the director of NABU, and employees of this structure are a priori more attractive to international experts, because, in their opinion, they have already passed a certain selection by the same international experts. 6 applicants are former employees of the police, police, SBU and SFS, and some are prosecutors.
"Main candidates"
Separately, it is worth noting several candidates who are actively positioning themselves in the media as "main" and "top" candidates, future winners, etc. Journalists of Radio Svoboda have already drawn attention to this.
Ruslan Pakhomov, individual entrepreneur and director of Forsego Ukraine. According to the declaration, he is the richest of the candidates - he earned over UAH 21 million in 2024. Former manager of Rinat Akhmetov's media business. Media activity increased sharply on the eve of the competition and continued during it: interviews and complimentary news constantly appear on national resources. On the eve of the appointment of the competition, a page was also created on Wikipedia, where, as in the news about Pakhomov, it is noted about the experience of "working" at the FBI. In fact, it was just an exchange internship with the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time when Pakhomov worked in the police. Therefore, stretched "facts" and frenzied media activity will definitely raise additional questions at the interview. However, at the same time, Pakhomov scored the highest among the candidates in the general skills test.
Ihor Shepetin, SBU colonel who defended Bakhmut. This is how this candidate is positioned in the media and Telegram channels, where they explain why "war veteran and hero Shepetin" decided to head the Bureau and call him a top contender for the position of director. Shepetin looks good in a photo in military uniform and is among the top ten candidates with the highest scores in the first test. However, from 2017 to 2021, that is, until the liquidation of the service, he worked at the SFS of Ukraine. At the same time, cleaning the ranks of the BES from former tax officials was one of the main requirements of people's deputies during the new competition and further re-certification of personnel.
Atilla Kovchi, prosecutor of the Office of the Prosecutor General, ex-candidate for director of the BES in 2021. Since July 2020, he has been working as a prosecutor in the Office of the Prosecutor General. In 2016-2020, he was the head of the legal department of the Ukrainian Institute for Examination of Plant Varieties. Kovchi's media activity coincided with the beginning of the competition for the Director of the BES. During this time, he took part in several meetings with business communities, published dozens of posts on the future of the BES and economic security, and gave interviews to leading and regional resources. Kovchi positions himself as a specialist in the field of combating economic crime, a leader who is as open as possible to business and the public, and a supporter of criminal analysis.
Anti-corruption candidates
There are the most candidates from the anti-corruption vertical - NABU and SAP - among the applicants, and this is predictable. The competition is a copy of the competition for the position of director of NABU. After all, according to the idea of the ideologists of the "reset", the BES should become something similar to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau - a structure with limited influence on it by the authorities.
Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi, head of the NABU detectives unit. Known for the recent investigation of the Komarnytskyi case regarding machinations with the capital's land - Operation Clean City. This case became one of the biggest blows to the capital's authorities, suspicions were received by Vitaliy Klitschko's deputy and Kyiv City Council deputies, and a number of top officials of the Kyiv City State Administration were dismissed from their positions.
Earlier, Tsyvinskyi participated in many competitions for senior positions at NABU, including the director, but did not pass.
Roman Yaromenok, senior NABU detective. Last May, he participated in the competition for a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and earlier he competed for the position of head of the SAP. Journalists accused Yaromenok of involvement in the "leaking" of materials of criminal proceedings.
Mykhailo Burtovyi, senior NABU detective. He has been in this position since July 2019. Prior to that, he was the deputy head of the police department No. 2 of the Shevchenkivskyi police department of the GUNP in Kyiv. He participated in the competition for the director of NABU, where he was asked many questions about the acquisition of property, in particular about the receipt of 58 land plots by his mother.
Maksym Vorvul, Deputy Head of the Third Division of Detectives of the Fourth Main Division of Detectives of NABU, participated in the competition for the director of NABU, where he also received questions regarding the acquisition of a land plot in the district where he was a prosecutor at that time. The latest declaration is about significant changes in property status, Vorvul received a salary of UAH 154,000.
Oleksandr Skomarov, Head of the Second Main Division of Detectives of NABU. He previously participated in the competition for the head of the NACP, where he was asked questions by the same Laura Stefan, who now heads the commission for the selection of the director of the BES. The questions concerned a conflict of interest, because Skomarov vouched for his sister, who was a suspect in a criminal proceeding of the NABU regarding the sanctioned "king of contraband" Alperin. The woman was not released on personal recognizance and was placed under house arrest. The case was later closed. Last year, Skomarov received an average of almost UAH 200,000 per month, so, like the previous candidate, he may lose a lot of income if he wins the competition.
Ruslan Damentsov, Deputy Head of the Second Division of Detectives of the Fourth Main Division of Detectives of NABU. He previously participated in the competition for the director of NABU. There is almost no information about this candidate in open sources, except for reports of participation in the competition. He started his career in Odesa region as a police officer. The declaration is not publicly available.
Oleksandr Sytnykov, Head of the Internal Control Department of the SAP. There are also almost no mentions of Sytnykov in the media, except for information that he is a prosecutor of the Office of the Prosecutor General. But from a recently submitted declaration, it became known that Sytnykov works in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office as the head of the internal control department - a unit that monitors compliance with the law by prosecutors, checks their integrity and conducts official investigations.
Natives of the prosecutor's office, the BES and the SFS
Oleh Borysenko, Head of the Territorial Department of the BES in Chernivtsi region. The only one of the 4 current employees of the Bureau of Economic Security who reached the interview stage. He previously worked as a senior detective at NABU, participated in the competition for the director of NABU and for the head of the SAP. At one time, Borysenko appeared in a journalistic investigation by the "Bigus Info" project in the "Svynarchuks case" about abuses during defense procurement. According to data published by journalists, in 2017, he approved and signed the NABU's response to the State Concern "Ukroboronprom" with false information.
Amil Azad ogly Omarov, Head of the Shevchenkivskyi District Prosecutor's Office of Kharkiv. A non-public person, despite his position. There are no mentions in the media, except for participation in the competition. The declaration is almost empty - an apartment and a car in use and a small house in ownership. The salary for the year is almost UAH 1.5 million.
Roman Tatarinov. Another native of the fiscal authorities - in 2021 he held the position of Deputy Head of the Main Department - Head of the Department of the Main Investigation Department of the State Fiscal Service.
Tax officials and civil servants
Viktor Dubovyk, Director General of the Directorate for Legal Policy of the Office of the President. Prior to that, he headed the Office for Combating Raiding of the Ministry of Justice. For a long time, he has been actively involved in issues of justice and law and order, and meets a lot with civil society institutions and the media. Journalists point to the bias of the candidate because his father worked as the first deputy minister of internal affairs of Zakharchenko. Dubovyk himself claims that he has not communicated with his father for more than 15 years and this connection has already been checked during the competition for the position of head of ARMA, in which he also participated.
Serhiy Mashtabei, Chief Specialist of the Department for Digital Development in Transport at the Ministry of Infrastructure. In 2021, he participated in the competition for the head of the BES, for the position of director of the state enterprise "ISS" and for the director of NABU, where he was not admitted.
Ruslan Rachynskyi, former Deputy Head of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kyiv region. He worked in the tax office until 2024, and previously participated in NABU competitions, but without result. Currently, the candidate is accused of using references to Russian legislation in his 2019 dissertation.