The issue of open competitions for public positions in Ukraine has once again come into focus - and not only due to discussions with international partners, but also due to a series of high-profile personnel decisions in strategic bodies. So far, the approach to appointing heads of state bodies remains unsystematic: instead of a single standard of transparency, the authorities often resort to targeted "reboots" of individual structures, writes UNN.
Due to the martial law declared in connection with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there is no obligation to hold open competitions for public positions. It was canceled at the beginning of the full-scale war for security purposes. However, the possibility of transparent appointments remains - competitions are not prohibited by law, and a separate decision is made in each case.
This approach creates a dangerous precedent where a competition as a tool for cleansing and rebooting exists, but only where a reputational or corruption failure has already occurred.
Targeted solutions instead of a systemic model
As Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, explains, there is no general requirement for mandatory competitions, and changes occur fragmentarily.
For example, according to the people's deputy, competitions are appointed in cases of high-profile scandals, as was the case with the appointment of the head of the Bureau of Economic Security or the election of the head of the State Customs Service. Also, according to her, the possibility of announcing a competition for the election of the head of the State Financial Monitoring Service is currently being considered.
At the same time, according to Nina Yuzhanina, the requirement to hold open selections for leadership positions in state bodies remains relevant.
I think it was, is, and will be relevant. And there was no need to suspend these competitions, although I understand that competitions also have their drawbacks, and there are quite a few of them. It turned out that a small number of people applied for the competition for the head of the customs service, and it is not a fact that those who are worthy of this position apply. And we do not know how "professionally" all these competitive competitions take place, how deeply candidates are checked for their understanding of customs work.
Resumption of competitions - a matter of time
Olena Shuliak, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, explained in a comment to UNN that the phased resumption of competitions is one of the points of the Ukraine Facility Plan, the implementation of which will allow Ukraine to receive 50 billion euros in funding from the European Union.
According to her, the relevant committee is currently working on draft law No. 13478-1 "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Resumption of Competitions and Improvement of the Procedure for Entering, Passing, and Terminating Public Service" so that the parliament can consider it during the 15th session.
The document establishes clear deadlines for the resumption of competitions for civil service positions of categories "A/B/C" and maximum terms of stay in such positions, for which appointments were made without competition during martial law. This returns the system to transparent selection based on professionalism.
Shuliak is convinced that the resumption of open competitions for positions in the civil service will become a safeguard against corruption. "After all, under such conditions, there is less room for manual appointments, arranging 'their people', political influence on the selection for top positions, etc.," Olena Shuliak emphasized.
And, according to her, the document also ensures an increase in the professionalism of commissions through mandatory training, more standardized assessments, integrity questionnaires for candidates, reserves, and internal competitions.
The State Aviation Service already needs a head appointed through a competition
As UNN previously wrote, Vice Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba proposed to the Government to appoint Ihor Zelinsky as the head of the State Aviation Service. This appointment is being pushed through manually without a competition, obviously realizing that an open selection will soon become mandatory.
The previous head of the State Aviation Service, Oleksandr Bilchuk, was dismissed in the fall of 2025 due to a decision to transfer the support of repair documentation for Mi-8MT (MTV) helicopters to AAL Group Ltd. The official ignored the presence of certified enterprises in Ukraine capable of performing these functions since 2014, after the start of Russia's war against Ukraine. His choice fell on an offshore structure associated with the Russian defense industry. The ultimate beneficiary of AAL Group Ltd is the company "Russian Helicopters," which is part of the Russian state concern "Rostec."
Ihor Zelinsky worked for a long time, until February 2025, as deputy head of the State Aviation Service, that is, he was Bilchuk's "right hand."
As UNN previously reported, representatives of the Ukrainian aviation market characterize Zelinsky's period as deputy head of the State Aviation Service (2020-2025) as a time of systemic and purposeful destruction of transport aviation. If in 2016 there were more than 20 Il-76 aircraft in the state register, by the beginning of 2025 there were only two left, and even those are not airworthy.
Experts point out that it was precisely by the decisions of the previous leadership of the State Aviation Service (the head of the regulator Oleksandr Bilchuk and his deputy Ihor Zelinsky) that these aircraft were excluded from the Ukrainian register and actually came under Russia's control. During this period, regulatory decisions were also made aimed at creating artificial obstacles to the operation of Il-76 in Ukraine, which is obviously undermining the state's defense capability.
In addition, since the 1990s, it was possible to operate Il-76MD aircraft without additional paperwork for their re-registration between various departments, including the Ministry of Defense. In June 2023, when Zelinsky was acting head of the State Aviation Service, after appeals from aviation market representatives and the Ministry of Defense, he officially confirmed the absence of obstacles to the use of transport aircraft in the interests of Ukraine.
However, six months later, in December, he changed his mind, stating that the Il-76MD does not have civil type certificates and cannot be registered. As a result, the use of aircraft for military, humanitarian, and evacuation missions was blocked. In addition, this decision led to the downtime of aircraft and additional budget expenditures for their maintenance, which is material damage to the state.
It should be noted that after the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's invasion of Donbas, Ukraine imposed sanctions against the Russian developer of Il-76 aircraft, PJSC "Il." That is, any cooperation with this Russian enterprise is prohibited.
Despite this, Zelinsky issued dozens of airworthiness review certificates for aircraft based on the decision of the sanctioned PJSC "Il" from June 2022. In fact, in this way, he legalized the use of documents from the aggressor country's enterprise, which, according to experts, could have brought tens of millions of dollars in income to the Russian side.
In addition, Zelinsky ignored the fact that there is a certified organization in Ukraine capable of providing appropriate support for Il-76 aircraft of PJSC "Il" without involving Russian sanctioned companies that are part of the aggressor country's defense-industrial complex.
As representatives of the aviation market explained to UNN, with his decision, Zelinsky put Il-75 aircraft operators before a choice: either cooperate with the Russian sanctioned developer or refuse to use the aircraft.
But now Vice Prime Minister Kuleba is trying not just to return Zelinsky to the State Aviation Service, but to appoint him to a leadership position.
For this appointment, the government needs the results of a special check of the candidate, which is also conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine. UNN learned that the special service plans to take into account the above-mentioned facts and assess the damage to the state from Zelinsky's probable appointment to the position.
Preventing crises instead of putting out fires
It is obvious that open competitions for positions in state bodies should become a systemic norm, and not a reaction to scandals or failures of individual bodies. Martial law explains the temporary simplification of procedures, and also takes into account the security situation, but cannot justify the long-term practice of manual appointments. If the competition is applied selectively, then the state acts in a fire-fighting mode, instead of using a solution that will prevent crises and address public concerns.
Fulfilling obligations within the Ukraine Facility Plan and returning open selections of officials can become not a formal fulfillment of conditions for receiving EU funding, but a minimization of corruption risks, an increase in the professionalism of leadership, and a reduction of political influence on strategic government bodies. Moreover, the tool already exists. Before the obligation returns, the Government can already appoint competitions for vacant leadership positions in strategic bodies, such as the State Aviation Service.
The story of Ihor Zelinsky's possible appointment without a competition only emphasizes the urgency of the problem. When a personnel decision is made through lobbying in a manual mode despite serious warnings about previous management decisions, it creates additional risks for Ukraine's security and international reputation, and also raises many questions in society. That is why an open competition should not be an option, but a mandatory procedure for appointment to key public positions.