Who will control the selection to the Accounting Chamber: Andriy Borovyk on risks, conflicts of interest and transparency

In Ukraine, an important stage of reforming the highest financial control body — the Accounting Chamber — is starting. This time, not only the composition, but also the principle of formation is changing, in particular, due to the creation of an advisory group of experts (DGE), which is to elect six of the nine members of the Accounting Chamber. This group will include six people: half recommended by international organizations, half by parliamentary factions. Formally, this should ensure a balance of influence, but the real content of the Ukrainian part of the DGE raises questions. Exactly on this emphasizes executive director of Transparency International Ukraine Andrii Borovyk.

He noted that the statutory requirements for members of the advisory group are logical and justified: experience in the field of control, finance, economics or law for at least five years, impeccable business reputation, moral qualities and public authority. However, some of the proposed candidates do not meet these basic criteria. Ignoring this fact creates risks of delegitimization of the tender procedure in general.

Andrii Borovyk emphasized that three experts recommended by international organizations should be included in the DGE. Among them are Igors Ludborgs from Latvia, Pascal Mounier from France and Lee Summerfield from Great Britain. All of them are recognized specialists in the field of public audit: they are representatives of the European Court of Auditors, the Court of Auditors of France and the British National Audit Office.

Borovyk believes that in their case there are no doubts about meeting the criteria — experience, reputation and independence are obvious. It is this presence of international participants in the group that partially compensates for internal risks and guarantees that the final process of selecting candidates for the Accounts Chamber will not be completely controlled by Ukrainian political elites. Unlike the international segment, the list of candidates from parliamentary factions raises a number of reservations. Among the applicants are economists, advisers, former civil servants, but also persons who have either questions about their professional suitability or direct doubts about their non-involvement.

Borovyk separately focused on the candidacy of Inna Sweetka, the former state secretary of the Ministry of Health. He recalled media reports that she was involved in incidents in 2019 that called into question her official conduct. It was about the admission of outsiders to the ministry, pressure on employees and attempts to gain access to internal documents without proper authority. In his opinion, such a background is incompatible with the requirement of an impeccable business reputation.

Borovyk considers Iryna Ivanova, a former member of the Chamber of Accounts, to be another controversial candidate. Andrii Borovyk reminded that in 2018 Transparency International Ukraine publicly criticized her authorship of the report on the state of public procurement. According to him, the document contained unsubstantiated conclusions, some of which could not be verified or confirmed. In addition, Ivanova is currently suing the Accounting Chamber, demanding that her dismissal be declared unlawful. In this context, in his opinion, participation in the selection of new members of the body against which she is conducting a legal dispute seems absurd.

Borovyk also pointed out that some applicants have direct or indirect connections with the current government. For example, Serhii Nizhynskyi is an advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister on European integration, and Myroslava Maslyak is an assistant to a People’s Deputy. The law does not prohibit such persons from being part of the DGE, but, according to Borovyk, their participation in the selection process may create a conflict of interest or at least the impression of bias.

He believes that a candidate who is closely related to a politician or a government official, a priori, cannot be sufficiently independent when it comes to evaluating applicants to the Accounting Chamber, a body that should check the activities of all branches of government. Such a situation is especially problematic in conditions where control over budgetary processes is directly related to political responsibility. Among the candidates are those who, according to Transparency International Ukraine, meet the criteria without reservations. These are Oleksandr Rozhko – doctor of economic sciences, professor, specialist with 18 years of experience, and Oleksandra Betlii – an analyst with more than twenty years of experience in the field of economics and finance. Both, according to Borovyk, have the professional training, reputation, and independence necessary to participate in the selection procedure.

He noted that, against the background of other applicants, these two candidacies can ensure confidence in the process. However, it is important that the choice was made not according to a political agreement, but according to the criteria of professionalism. Otherwise, even honest and qualified participants will not be able to compensate for reputational losses from the general composition of the group.

Andriy Borovyk emphasized that the advisory group is not a technical body. Its task is not only to select worthy ones, but also to build trust in the entire audit system in the country. The members of the Accounting Chamber, who will be elected by this group, will be given the mandate to check the use of budget funds, evaluate the effectiveness of spending and identify violations, particularly in government structures. That is why the transparency and reasonableness of the selection of candidates for the advisory group is critically important. If it includes persons with a dubious reputation or direct ties to the authorities, the whole procedure will lose its meaning. According to Borovyk, in such a case, it is better to honestly admit that the body will again be appointed by the political majority, with no illusions about independence.

Currently, the decision remains with the Verkhovna Rada, which must elect three Ukrainian representatives to the DGE from the proposed list. Borovyk believes that deputies should approach this vote responsibly. After all, it is not just about the approval of personnel, but about the launch of a whole new procedure for selecting the management staff of the Accounting Chamber.

In his opinion, if the parliament elects dubious candidates, it will destroy trust not only in the chamber itself, but also in the idea of ​​audit as such. After all, in the conditions of a war economy, budgetary stress and large-scale international aid, quality audit is not only a matter of efficiency, but also of political responsibility to society and partners.