Government to Reform the Bureau of Economic Security

The government is determined to reform the Bureau of Economic Security (BES):  the head of the agency has been dismissed and structural reform of a unit in both Kyiv and the wider Kyiv region, whose leadership was suspected of corruption, has been approved.

On April 11, the Cabinet of Ministers revealed that Vadym Melnyk had left his post as head of the Bureau of Economic Security.

Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the first deputy chairman of the Parliament's Tax Committee, said that Melnyk had resigned at his own request, but most commentators feel it likely that he was forced to go.

"In the morning, Melnyk did not know that he would want to resign. Even two hours ago, the BES published the news that he was meeting with the business association," he wrote.

Melnyk's first deputy, Eduard Fedorov, will become the Bureau's acting director. Before his appointment to the BES, he worked as head of the SBU office in the Sumy region, and in 2021-2022 held the post of deputy head of the Kyiv customs department.

On April 12, The Cabinet of Ministers liquidated the Territorial Department of BES in Kyiv and Kyiv region. The department has now been split into two separate units; one will work only in Kyiv and the other covering the Kyiv region - reported on the official website.

The head of the Territorial Department of the BES in Kyiv and Kyiv Region was suspended from his duties due to an internal investigation on suspicion of bribery in February.

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Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy found the work of the Bureau of Economic Security's management needed to be revised and recommended that the government reset the BES leadership.