30 candidates will continue to fight for the position of the BES head. Activists are waiting for the “anti-corruption Netflix”
3 March 17:28
A meeting of the commission for holding a competition for the position of director of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) was held, which considered the issue of admitting persons to participate in the competition, approving the lists of persons admitted to participate in the competition and not admitted to participate. This was reported by the Telegram channel BES 2.0, according to
The Commission admitted 30 out of 43 candidates to the next stage of the competition.
The Judicial and Legal Newspaper published a full list of candidates for the position of BES director, noting that the bulk of the candidates are NABU employees, former employees of the Tax Service, prosecutors and BES employees.
Thus, the competition will continue:
– Aslanov Maksym Sergiyovych (Head of the Department of the Bureau of Economic Security)
– Borysenko Oleh Volodymyrovych (Head of the Territorial Department of the BES in Chernivtsi region, was a senior detective of the NABU, participated in the competition for the NABU director)
– Pavlo Buzdygan (senior detective of the NABU)
– Burtovyi Mykhailo Oleksiyovych (NABU detective, participated in the competition for the NABU director)
– Vitrenko Andrii Yuriiovych (as of 2022, he was the deputy head of the department of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Odesa region)
– Hnatiuk Roman Ivanovych (until 2024, Director of the Department of the State Tax Service)
– Honchar Bohdan Serhiiovych (prosecutor of the department in the Specialized Defense Prosecutor’s Office of the Western Region)
– Horbov Oleksandr Viktorovych (was the head of the Poltava Customs as of 2023, but since July 2024 there is another head there)
– Hrechana Tetiana Volodymyrivna (until 2024, she was the Director of the Department of Taxation of Legal Entities of the State Tax Service)
– Damentsov Ruslan Vasylovych (senior detective of the NABU)
– Dzhan Rajami Mohammadovich (was the head of the NABU department until 2024, participated in the competition for the head of the BES in 2021)
– Dubovyk Viktor Viktorovych (Director General of the Directorate for Legal Policy of the Office of the President)
– Kalatur Maksym Vasylovych (until 2024 was the head of the department in the BES, before that he was the deputy head of the Main Department of the National Police in Sumy region)
– Kovchi Attila Laslovych (prosecutor of the Prosecutor General’s Office, participated in the competition for the BES director in 2021)
– Mashtabey Serhii Valentynovych (Chief Specialist of the Department for Digital Development in Transport at the Ministry of Infrastructure, already participated in the competition for the BES director in 2021)
– Omarov Amil Azad oglu (Head of the Shevchenkivskyi District Prosecutor’s Office of Kharkiv)
– Pakhomov Ruslan Volodymyrovych (as of 2023, he worked at Enterprise Business Solutions LLC, MEDIA GROUP Ukraine LLC, TELE PRO LLC, FRONT CINEMA LLC, SEPEMBER MULTIMEDIA LLC and others)
– Perhun Sergiy Oleksandrovych (currently acting director of the BEB)
– Plachkov Dmytro Fedorovych (Head of the Department of Odesa District State (Military) Administration, was a candidate for the HCJ Disciplinary Inspectorate)
– Poltoratskyi Mykola Mykhailovych (a person with this name worked as a deputy director of the department – head of the economic planning department of the Ministry of Community Development)
– Ruslan Mykhailovych Rachynskyi (former Deputy Head of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kyiv region, worked there until 2024)
– Vladyslav Mykolaiovych Rzhemovskyi (Shalhorodskyi) (was a candidate for the position of a member of the HCJ)
– Sytnikov Oleksandr Anatoliiovych (Head of Department in the Prosecutor General’s Office)
– Skomarov Oleksandr Viktorovych (Deputy Head of the Main Detective Unit of the NABU, participated in the competition for the Head of the NACP)
– Tatarinov Roman Volodymyrovych (in 2021, he was Deputy Head of the Main Department – Head of the Department of the Main Investigation Department of the State Fiscal Service)
– Fokin Sergiy Oleksandrovych (former Deputy Head of the Department in the Prosecutor General’s Office, worked there until 2019)
– Olena Fyudr (filed declarations as a candidate for various positions, including NABU)
– Oleksandr Ihorovych Tsyvinskyi (senior detective of the NABU, participated in the competition for the position of the NABU director and almost reached the final)
– Shepetin Ihor Olehovych (in January 2025, a person with this name filed a declaration as an operative in particularly important cases of the SBU)
– Yaromenok Roman Oleksandrovych (senior detective of the NABU, has repeatedly participated in the competition for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine)
Those candidates who were denied admission to the competition will have three days to appeal the decision of the Commission.
It is reported that the next meeting is scheduled for March 10, 2025.
According to Laura Stefan, head of the BES director competition commission, the general ability test is scheduled for Friday, March 14, and will take place in Kyiv.
There are many more tests and checks to come
Those who want to head the Bureau of Economic Security will have to overcome several stages of rigorous evaluation. This includes
– anonymous testing of general skills;
– anonymous testing of knowledge of the law;
– completion of practical tasks by the Candidates to test their professional practical skills, which are developed at the request of the Commission by independent experts from among scientists;
– completion of practical tasks by the Candidates to test their organizational and leadership skills;
– assessing the Candidates’ personal competencies through testing and interviews with a psychologist;
– verification of the candidates’ compliance with the integrity criterion after testing their general skills.
The indicators of the integrity criterion are independence, honesty, impartiality, incorruptibility, good faith, adherence to ethical standards and demonstration of impeccable behavior in professional and personal life, absence of doubts about the legality of the sources of property origin, compliance of the standard of living with the declared income, and compliance of the candidate’s lifestyle with his/her status.
The candidates will also have an interview to discuss the results of the research.
Upon completion of the interviews with all candidates who have passed the interview and special verification provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption” and the verification provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Purification of Government”, the Commission at a meeting by open vote separately for each candidate determines no more than two candidates who have the best professional experience, knowledge and personal qualities to perform the official duties of the Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, as well as meet the criteria of professional competence and integrity.
Candidatures of the winners (the winner’s candidacy), which have been approved by the decision of the Commission, are submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The Commission, which evaluates the candidates, has three members representing the Ukrainian side and three international experts. International experts will have the decisive vote in the selection process of the BES director.
It is worth recalling that on June 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a whole the draft law No. 10439 on the reboot of the Bureau of Economic Security. The BES reform is directly tied to the allocation of funds from the EU under the Ukraine Facility program.
Activists have already evaluated the candidates according to their own criteria
While the candidates are preparing for the first tests, the Anti-Corruption Center “Mezha” has conducted its own analysis and formed ratings, which can already characterize the competition and believe that “anti-corruption Netflix is here to stay.” Martyna Bohuslavets, the head of the Center, wrote about this in her column for UP.
According to her, ratings of candidates with the highest incomes for 2023, the highest savings, the highest incomes of close people, the most expensive car fleet and real estate were formed.
It is noted that the ratings are based on official data from declarations, taking into account the market value of property and the current exchange rate. Here are just two examples of such ratings. The rest can be found here.
Top 5 candidates by income, 2023
Ruslan Pakhomov is at the top of the ranking, as well as 2 others in the analysis of the Mezha Center, with UAH 8 million of income in 2023.
Owners of the most expensive real estate
Viktor Dubovyk, Director General of the Legal Policy Directorate of the Office of the President of Ukraine, is on the first place. Together with his family, the candidate owns three houses and three land plots on the shore of the Kyiv Sea in the village of Khotonivka.
The Anti-Corruption Center “Mezha” draws attention to the fact that there are many people among the candidates whose integrity raises reasonable questions. And this is a disadvantage. The upside is that all the candidates who applied for the competition understand how much attention will be paid to them, their property, their close associates, their performance of tasks and interviews not only by the Commission but also by the public, and, as activists hope, they are ready for it.
