No postponement for rear-area personnel and reinstatement for the SBU and HUR — how Zelenskyy proposes changing the declaration rules
Kyiv • UNN
Zelenskyy proposed reinstating e-declarations for the SBU and military personnel in the rear. A postponement is предусмотрено for soldiers on the front line.
Following the exposure of a large-scale criminal organization involving high-ranking officials of the special services, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill on reinstating mandatory e-declarations for SBU employees, as well as military personnel serving in the rear. The bill provides for the restoration of oversight of military personnel’s assets, while retaining a deferral only for servicemen on the front line, UNN reports.
Details
On Monday, November 9, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill on reinstating mandatory declarations for employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, which was announced after the National Bureau of Investigation and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office reported that they had "exposed a criminal organization whose members ensured the operation of fraudulent call centers, the distribution of narcotic substances, the commission of economic crimes, as well as crimes against people’s lives and health."
According to the investigation, "the illegal activities were carried out with the assistance and protection of certain high-ranking officials of the SBU, the National Police, and the Prosecutor General’s Office, who were systematically provided with undue benefits."
However, it is worth returning to April 2022 first.
Declarations during wartime
In April 2022, following the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law allowing civil servants not to submit declarations until the end of martial law, with the aim of creating legal mechanisms to protect the interests of reporting subjects during martial law or a state of war.
However, a year later, the Rada adopted a law restoring income declarations, but with certain exceptions. The obligation to submit electronic declarations was temporarily deferred for categories of officials whose activities are directly related to the country’s defense, being in a risk zone, or health-related restrictions:
- members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service, the SBU, the Main Intelligence Directorate, the State Guard Directorate, the State Service of Special Communications, as well as special-purpose police units, involved in combat operations;
- persons performing their duties in areas of active hostilities or in temporarily occupied
territories;
- military personnel and officials who are in captivity/hostage situations, receiving inpatient treatment,
or undergoing rehabilitation after wounds, concussions, or injuries;
- service members whose details of service are a state secret.
If the official themselves belongs to one of the groups listed above, the obligation to submit reports is also deferred for their family members.
What Zelenskyy proposes in the new bill
In his bill, Zelenskyy proposes establishing that persons serving, in particular, in intelligence agencies — namely, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate — must submit a declaration.
If a serviceman is directly participating in combat operations at the time when the declaration must be submitted, they may refrain from doing so.
Such persons are to be granted a deferral for 90 days under one of the following circumstances:
- termination or cancellation of martial law;
- termination of direct participation in combat operations;
- discharge from
military service.
That is, people who are directly in the trenches or on combat missions are exempt from submitting a declaration.
However, declarations for military personnel serving in positions including the Head of the Office of the President, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and their deputies, members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, members of the Council of Prosecutors and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors, heads of law enforcement agencies and their territorial divisions, heads of military administrations, and civil servants will always remain publicly accessible, and they must submit declarations.
Documents of military personnel subject to the special procedure are also not displayed in the public domain (except for high-ranking officials and those who do not participate in combat).
The head (deputy head) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also receives the right to initiate the removal of information concerning Armed Forces personnel.
The documents of high-ranking officials (ministers, heads of law enforcement agencies, judges, prosecutors, etc.) are not subject to removal from the Declarations Register.
Military personnel who have not filed declarations since 2021 are required to do so within 90 days from the date the law enters into force (with exceptions for those subject to a special procedure).
Why Zelenskyy wants to reinstate declarations
The need to reinstate mandatory declarations for rear-area security and law enforcement personnel arose due to a number of social, anti-corruption and legislative factors. In particular, back in September, the President promised to reinstate declarations for law enforcement officers and military personnel who are not at war, to the extent that would reliably make it possible to actually monitor the property status and lifestyle of law enforcement officers; however, as can be seen, he managed to do so only in November, following the “Carthage” case.
It is worth noting that about two weeks ago, the Cabinet of Ministers opposed Zelenskyy’s plans, approving and submitting to Parliament Draft Law No. 15574, which proposes opening the declarations of persons performing tasks in the interests of Ukraine’s national security and defense one year after martial law is lifted.
Under the draft law, the declarations filed by military personnel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, the Department of State Guard of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations established in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, as well as by special-purpose police officers who are involved in combat operations during martial law, will not be displayed in the public domain.
When may the Verkhovna Rada consider the draft law
Under the rules of procedure, the lead committee (in this case, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy) must consider the new draft law within 30 days of receiving it. However, the President has designated the document as urgent, and therefore this period may be shortened to 21 days. In addition, the rules of procedure provide for a 14-day period for submitting alternative draft laws, but in this case that period may be shortened to 7 days.
At its sitting, the Rada must also vote on including the document on the agenda, and once it has been included, it must be considered as a matter of priority.