Political responsibility for “unprofessional” members in Verkhovna Rada committees lies with the factions – expert

In Ukraine, there are no legislative requirements for the education of people's deputies, and, therefore, for their professional suitability to work in parliamentary committees. However, the political responsibility for the unprofessionalism of deputies who develop legislative changes lies with the parliament and the parliamentary factions that delegate them to committees. Oleksandr Shram, a lawyer, stated this in an exclusive comment to UNN.

As UNN previously reported, the subcommittee on pharmacy and pharmaceutical activities is headed by People's Deputy Serhii Kuzminykh. By education, the scandalous MP is a systems engineer. He received his higher education at the Serhii Korolyov Zhytomyr Military Institute. Thus, a person without medical education is responsible for legislation in the field of pharmacy. Kuzminykh entered parliament with the "Servant of the People" party, but after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine exposed the MP for bribery, he resigned from the faction but remained working in the committee.

This is a question of how the Verkhovna Rada forms the composition of committees, who it delegates, and who it elects to a particular position. Therefore, it is impossible to do this through elections. This is only the political responsibility and responsibility of the Rada for those they voted for.

The lawyer reminded that the Verkhovna Rada is a body elected by the people of Ukraine, and according to the law, candidates have age and citizenship requirements, but there are no requirements regarding their education.

Shram emphasized that it is the deputies, elected by Ukrainians, who decide by voting in parliament who heads committees and subcommittees. He explained that this is an internal matter of whom factions and groups nominate and appoint to a particular position. It is impossible to limit this legislatively. And it is also impossible to establish any quotas – 15 lawyers, 12 doctors, 20 economists.

He stressed that in the absence of educational qualifications, political responsibility of the parliament, parties, and factions is the only mechanism for controlling the professional composition of committees.

Reminder

In 2022, more than three years ago, NABU caught Kuzminykh "red-handed" – the deputy received over half a million hryvnias in bribes for assisting in signing contracts for the supply of medical equipment to a hospital in Zhytomyr region.

That is, the person who is now making fateful decisions for the pharmaceutical market clearly received money for influencing this very market. Professional evolution, so to speak.

But that's not all. After being served with a suspicion notice, Kuzminykh began to avoid court and journalists. He was either sick, or disappeared, or "confused summonses." One time, as media reported, he even tried to throw documents out of a car.

Despite such a stunning background, it was Kuzminykh who became the main architect of changes in pharmaceutical legislation. For example, he recently supported a resolution on the prohibition of pharmacy marketing, which did not yield the expected result. Drug prices were supposed to decrease – instead, they rose. This was stated by the Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko, as UNN wrote. According to him, in April, inflation in the pharmaceutical market reached 13.9%.

The BF "Patients of Ukraine" also speaks about the increase in drug prices instead of decreases. According to Inna Ivanenko, the head of the foundation, patients have not yet felt significant improvement in the cost or availability of drugs. Over the past three months, there has been no noticeable decrease in drug prices.

In addition, according to the monitoring of UNN, the largest price increase was observed for foreign-made drugs. For example, one of the most popular drugs for patients with arterial hypertension - "Betaloc" (AstraZeneca AB, Sweden) - increased in cost by an average of 26 hryvnias; "Glucophage XR" (Merck Santé, France) - became more expensive by approximately 43 hryvnias; "Synjardy" (Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Germany) - increased in price by 103 UAH.

Yes, millions of Ukrainians feel the consequences of unprofessional decisions, having to overpay for medicines or even be left without the necessary treatment. And all this is thanks to the decision of the Verkhovna Rada to delegate the leadership of the pharmaceutical subcommittee to a person who does not have a specialized education but has a case from NABU. Because who else, if not a systems engineer with experience in discussing "kickbacks" in medical institutions, knows best how to manage Ukrainian pharmacy?