What the renewed Bureau of Economic Security should be like: the view of a candidate for the position of director Viktor Dubovyk
Since its creation, the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BEB) has repeatedly found itself at the center of criticism — from the expert environment, business, the public, and international partners. Conceived as a new analytical structure that would supplant the corrupt and ineffective tax police, the BEB has not become an institution of trust in its three years of existence. Victor Dubovyk, a participant in the competition for the position of director of BEB, stated about these problems and the need for deep transformation in his public post on Facebook.
In his note he presented not only an assessment of the current state of the Bureau, but also laid out his own vision of what the renewed body should become – with a clear mission, priorities and actions in the first 100 days of work.
“While the Commission for the selection of the Director of the BEB of Ukraine took the position of completely ignoring legal requirements and repeating the sad path of negative practices with which it had to fight, I decided to present my own plan for the first 100 days in the position of the Director of the BEB and to consolidate my own vision of the institution’s development!”, – Dubovik wrote.
According to Dubovyk, today there is only a body, but not an institution. He believes that BEB needs a restart both administratively and conceptually. Dubovyk emphasized that the new BEB should have an analytical core, a clearly formulated mission and focus on three key target groups: citizens, business and the state.
Viktor Dubovik reminded that the BEB was created as an analytical law enforcement body to replace the tax police and fight economic crime. However, as he noted, in three years the world and Ukraine have changed radically — demands for financial transparency have increased, the process of integration into the EU has intensified, the structure of economic crimes has become more complicated, and there has been a demand for “smart” solutions in the field of economic security.
At the same time, Dubovik stressed, the current BEB does not meet any of these challenges. He listed the main problems of the institution: the negative legacy of the tax police, lack of a permanent leader, unclear accountability, low level of trust from society and business, lack of effectiveness, unclear functions and personnel crisis. According to his assessment, the Bureau still employs individuals with old approaches that make it impossible to transition to an analytical model of work.
Dubovyk expressed his belief that BEB should finally understand for whom it works. In his opinion, the Bureau should completely refocus on creating value for society, business and the state, and not remain an apparatus of coercion with a blurred investigative function.
In the post, he proposed a transition from the repressive logic of “detect – punish” to the prevention logic of “predict – prevent”. He also insists on abandoning the forceful past and creating an institution of trust that operates with transparent analytics, modern IT tools and works to prevent economic risks.
In his concept of the renewed BEB, Dubovik outlined the mission of the future body: “Prevent losses and protect justice.” He explained that the main goal is to restore fairness in the sphere of public finances, ensure transparency and level playing field for business, and guarantee effective economic management by the state. Dubovyk emphasized that BEB should become a shield for the business community, protection against artificial pressure and a source of real economic security.
Separately, he presented the plan for the first 100 days of his potential work as the director of the BEB. It involves four key stages:
- A full-scale audit of the current state of the Bureau.
- Strengthening of personnel and the start of updating the team.
- Preparation of reforms in the areas of accountability, analytics and digital transformation.
- Public launch of transformations and active communication with the public.
In the end, Dubovyk admitted that the current situation with BEB is a crisis, and the competition commission, which was supposed to ensure a transparent selection of a new manager, repeats the wrong practices that it was supposed to oppose. That is why, he emphasized, it was important to publicly record one’s own vision and present a clear plan of action.
His position is that the BEB does not just need a new leader, but needs a rethinking of its role in the country’s security system, new legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and deep conceptual reform.
