In order for the US to provide direct budgetary assistance to Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada must pass Bill No. 10044-d on the reform of the Accounting Chamber. The first reading of the bill will be worth $500 million, and $1 billion will be provided after the second reading. This was reported by the head of the Budget Committee Roksolana Pidlasa on her Facebook page, according to 
“The reform of the Accounting Chamber is in the focus of all international partners this year. The adoption of the draft law is one of the two conditions for the US to provide direct budgetary assistance ($500 million after the first reading and another $1 billion after the second), and the adoption of the draft law is likely to become a structural beacon for the IMF after the fifth review of the programme, which has just been completed,” she wrote.
Despite the fact that the Budget Committee has already recommended that the Verkhovna Rada adopt the draft law in the first reading and it is likely to be put to a vote in the Verkhovna Rada this week, not all MPs consider this version of the law acceptable.
What is planned to be changed in the law
The draft law, which has already been recommended by the Budget Committee, envisages bringing the activities of the Accounting Chamber in line with the standards of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and the use of its professional documents.
It also envisages reducing the number of members of the Accounting Chamber from 13 to 11 and introducing a competition with a predominant right to vote of international experts to select new members.
In addition, the draft law on the Accounting Chamber expands its powers to include audits of local budgets, state-owned enterprises and extra-budgetary funds, and creates clear parliamentary procedures for reviewing its reports and monitoring the implementation of its recommendations.
The financial independence of the Accounting Chamber is also enhanced by setting its salaries in the law, creating positions of independent auditors and a special procedure for considering its budget requests.
Criticism of the draft law
In an exclusive commentary to , Yulia Klymenko, MP from the Voice faction, said that she personally refuses to vote for the draft law.
“I don’t plan to vote for it, because the draft law states that only new members of the Accounting Chamber will be appointed under the new rules. And those five (currently, five positions are filled, the rest are vacant – ed.) who were appointed before will actually work until the end of their term. This is not entirely correct, since, relatively speaking, the vacant positions will be filled with people of a new formation. But those who were appointed under the Servants of the People quota will continue to work. And nothing will change dramatically, I’m speaking from my experience as a civil servant. Because when new people come in and the old ones stay, a conflict arises, which leads to poor quality of work,” Klymenko said.
In her opinion, the entire Accounting Chamber needs to be rebooted.
“It is necessary to either reboot the entire Accounting Chamber or to develop a different concept of this law. We will see the final version, but we already have questions to the draft law. I don’t think this body will work in a new way, because some people remain so-called “political appointees,” the MP said.
What is wrong with the current members of the Accounting Chamber
The Accounting Chamber is a collegial body consisting of 13 members. However, only 5 positions are currently filled: Olha Pishchanska, the Head of the Accounting Chamber, her deputy Serhiy Kliuchka and 3 members – Yelyzaveta Pushko-Tsybulyak, Serhiy Kliuchka and Kyrylo Klymenko.
The competitive procedure used to select all the above-mentioned members has been repeatedly criticised by experts. The interviews were allegedly conducted in a somewhat formal manner. The US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Reconstruction, Penny Pritzker, also expressed her concern.
According to media reports, Olha Pishchanska, the head of the Accounting Chamber, is also close to the presidential family. Her sister, Svitlana Pishchanska, allegedly manages President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s affairs in Italy and is a sponsor of the Servant of the People party.
Author: Alyona Kaplina