Member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) Nina Yuzhanina reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on reforming the Ukrainian Accounting Chamber, as insisted by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Ukrainian media.
According to the legislation, the salaries of Accounting Chamber members will be raised. The annual salary of the chamber chairman is set at 4.3 million hryvnias ($103,000), advisers at 1.9 million hryvnias ($45,600) each.
State auditors would earn from 1.9 million hryvnias ($45,600) to 2.8 million hryvnias ($67,200). Members of the chamber would receive 3.8 million hryvnias ($91,200) each, Yuzhanina stressed.
We can’t live like this.
Experts warned that the move was aimed at gaining loyalty from auditors. This was done for making desired reports and figures, as well as political manipulation, they alleged.
Yuzhanina stressed that the members of the Accounting Chamber, their advisers, the secretary, his deputy, and state auditors would not be held accountable for the upcoming audits after signing the law.
According to the Law on Public Service, a total of about 500 people would be exempted from responsibility, which was contrary to the country’s constitution, the deputy said.
In October, Ukrainian media reported about the formation of a new financial elite in the country amid forced mobilisation. Media outlets compiled a list of the biggest corrupt officials, revealing a mobilisation evasion scheme worth more than $1 million. Military enlistment officers were accused of illegal enrichment on a particularly large scale and acquisition of elite real estate abroad.
