President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed that public servants are obliged to submit a declaration about contacts with oligarchs included in the relevant register.
According to president’s bill No. 5599 on the prevention of threats to national security associated with the excessive influence of persons with significant economic or political weight in public life (oligarchs), a public servant, after contacting an oligarch or his representative, must fill out a declaration of contacts on the official website of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
According to the bill, a contact is a meeting and conversation, including online meetings and conversation, about anything.
At the same time, persons included in the register and their representatives are obliged to inform public officials about the fact that information about themselves or the persons they represent has been included in the register before the meeting or a conversation.
The obligation to submit a declaration of contacts applies to the President of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, his deputies, MPs, the prime minister and deputy prime ministers, the minister and his deputies, the head of the SBU and his deputies, the prosecutor general and his deputies, the governor of the National Bank and his deputies.
The declaration of contacts is also required to be filled out by judges of the Constitutional Court, judges, the head of a permanent subsidiary body created by the president and his deputies, chairmen and members of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Antimonopoly Committee, the Accounting Chamber, the Central Election Commission, the High Council of Justice and other state collegial bodies.
Among the officials required to submit a declaration of contacts are the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and his deputies, the heads of the State Property Fund, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention and their deputies, directors of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations, Bureau of Economic Security and their deputies.
In addition, among the declarants are the Verkhovna Rada commissioner for human rights; civil servants holding civil service positions of A category; heads of local state administrations, their first deputies and deputies; servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations who have been awarded the highest military rank; persons of the commanding staff of law enforcement agencies and employees of other bodies who have been awarded the highest special rank.
According to the bill, violation of the obligation to submit a declaration of contacts is the basis for bringing a person to political or disciplinary responsibility.
The declaration of contacts shall contain information about the persons who submitted the information, about the oligarchs included in the register and their representatives, with whom there was contact, the date and place of the conversation and its brief content.
The transitional provisions to the bill indicate that the law will be limited to 10 years. Also, according to the transitional provisions, the Cabinet of Ministers shall, within three months, bring its regulations in line with the law after its entry into force, as well as ensure that ministries and other central executive bodies bring their regulations in line with the law.
