The government evaluated the performance of civil servants in 2024. And not only him
23 December 2024 11:56
The government has approved the results of the 2024 performance evaluation of a number of state secretaries of ministries, heads of central executive bodies and their deputies. These results were commented on in his Telegram by Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
In terms of numbers and estimates, the government’s “report card” looks like this:
– 10 state secretaries of ministries, 8 of whom were rated as “excellent” and 2 as “positive”;
– 28 heads of central executive authorities (agencies, services, inspectorates, etc.) – 18 received “excellent” and 10 received “positive” ratings.
– 77 first deputies and deputy heads of central executive authorities – 57 persons were rated as “excellent” and 20 as “positive”.
According to Danylo Hetmantsev, “no negative assessments that could be a reason for dismissal from the civil service position were found based on the results of work in 2024.”
At the same time, the MP recalls an important detail. As it turns out, an excellent grade is not just a grade, because Article 44 of the Law “On Civil Service” provides that “civil servants who have received excellent grades based on the results of performance appraisal are subject to bonuses.”
But there are other reasons not to get too excited about the quality of training of high-level civil servants.
How Ukraine’s reform successes are assessed in the EU
Danylo Hetmantsev, for example, suggests that we look at how the European partners assess the state of Ukrainian affairs, who presented a report on Ukraine’s progress in the framework of the enlargement policy in late October.
The MP explained that in cluster 1 (which is the key cluster that opens first and closes last in the process of negotiations on EU accession), one of the most important sections is “Public Administration Reform”, which comes second right after “Functioning of Democratic Institutions”.
And according to Danylo Hetmantsev, not everything is as rosy as in our own assessments: “Ukraine has a certain level of preparation in the field of public administration reform and has made some progress. The recommendations of the European Commission from last year have been partially implemented and remain in force.”
“Some level of preparation” is, unfortunately, a “two” on a five-point scale (1 – early stage, 2 – some level of preparation, 3 – moderately prepared, 4 – good level of preparation, 5 – well advanced). “Has made some progress” is a “B”, but on a six-point scale (1 – backsliding, 2 – no progress, 3 – limited progress, 4 – some progress, 5 – good progress, 6 – very good progress),” explains the MP.
He also reminds us that “one of the key tasks for our civil service is to work on European integration and achieve progress in all areas that will be evaluated by European partners,” and cites a number of other assessments:
Over the past year, the European Commission’s conclusion is as follows:
▪️відсутність progress (no progress, “F”) – 1 direction;
▪️обмежений progress (limited progress, “C”) – 11 areas;
▪️певний progress (some progress, “B”) – 18 areas;
▪️хороший good progress – 6 areas;
▪️дуже good progress (very good progress, the highest score is 6) – none.
“As you can see, the performance assessment for 2024 is slightly different… But this post is not about criticizing the civil service. It is what it is and reflects the slow progress in the formation of state institutions that ensure democracy and sustainable development over the years, which is what the European Commission’s conclusions actually say. In this sense, I believe that we should not be lulled into overestimates by top officials. After all, with such a dissonance in assessments, we risk getting a rather unpleasant result in the next EC Report on Ukraine’s progress,” the MP said.
Another evidence of dissonance in assessments
Danylo Hetmantsev said that Ivan Rudyi, the Chairman of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, who was detained by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office on December 18, and all 5 members of the Commission who were evaluated received an “excellent” rating based on the results of their official activities in 2024, and it was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
“In early December, we voted in the Verkhovna Rada to liquidate this completely ineffective body, but it turns out that we should have given them bonuses,” Danylo Hetmantsev notes ironically.
What is known about the case of Ivan Rudyi
Law enforcement officers detained Ivan Rudyi on suspicion of facilitating the operation of a Russian online casino in Ukraine and illegal drug possession. As reported by Suspilne, during searches of the head of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, law enforcement officers found and seized a large amount of cocaine. According to the SBI, the pre-trial investigation found that the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, headed by Rudyi, “issued and, on his instructions, deliberately failed to take actions to revoke the license to organize online gambling to a commercial structure” whose beneficial owner was Russian and whose representatives assisted Russia. Rudyi himself said in a commentary to Suspilne after the pre-trial restraint was imposed that the charges against him were fabricated.
on December 19, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv imposed a pre-trial restraint on Ivan Rudyi in the form of detention without bail.
Ivan Rudyi is a former military man who took part in the fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014. After serving in the military, he became the secretary of the Advisory Council for War Veterans and Families of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine at the Ministry of Veterans. The government appointed Ivan Rudyi to the position of the Head of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries on October 28, 2020.
The number of civil servants in Ukraine
According to the results of the monitoring of the number of civil servants for the third quarter of 2024, the actual number of working civil servants amounted to 157,719 people. The number of civil service positions according to the staffing table decreased by 1,942 and amounted to 196,696. The number of vacant civil service positions decreased by 1,547 and amounted to 33,318. This was reported by the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service.
The agency also noted the reversal of the trend of reducing the number of civil servants. According to the results of a study of the number of civil servants in the second quarter of 2024, there were 1242 fewer of them. However, in the third quarter, the number of civil servants decreased by only 372.
