A draft law stripping the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of its power to investigate white-collar crime and corruption has been approved in the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada on Jan. 28.
The bill, which got the votes of 285 lawmakers, provides for the SBU’s reform, which has been demanded by Ukraine’s Western partners and is expected to bring the country closer to NATO standards.
The SBU’s authority to investigate economic crime gave its employees many opportunities for corruption, such as extorting money from businesses, according to anti-corruption activists.
If approved, the bill would take away this authority and remove all of the SBU’s investigative powers by 2024.
It would also cut the number of SBU employees from 27,000 to 25,000 immediately and to 17,000 by 2023.
Parliament also issued a second reading approval of a separate bill that replaces the notoriously corrupt tax police with a new Economic Security Bureau.
The bureau’s head will be chosen via competition.
