Ukrainian government unveils plan to combat corruption within Medical and Social Assessment Boards

The Ukrainian government has approved a plan to combat corruption and other offences among the Medical and Social Assessment Boards (MSABs), in line with the decisions taken by Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Source: Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal

Details: The government's plan provides for the following actions:

• MSABs, as they exist, shall be disbanded this year.
• Establishing a group to review MSAB decisions, with inspections ongoing for the next three months.
• In November, the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Digital Transformation will announce a decision on digitalising all stages of MSAB operations.
• The Pension Fund, alongside the State Bureau of Investigation, National Police, and Security Service of Ukraine, is tasked with promptly auditing all disability pension payments to prosecutors and other government officials.
• The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Policy are to immediately submit draft laws to the Government for a comprehensive reform of the MSAB system.

Shmyhal argues that this plan "very clearly" sets out the deadlines and those responsible for its implementation. This issue should be a priority for all ministries and ministers personally. The results of the implementation of the decisions taken by the president and the NSDC will be followed by appropriate conclusions.

Background:

• On 2 October, the SSU (the Security Service of Ukraine) exposed Vira Beliakova, the Head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Medical Enquiry Service, on corruption schemes related to military draft evasion. During searches, the SSU found more than US$450,000 in cash and a collection of jewellery that Beliakova was hiding at different addresses.
• On 4 October, the office of Tetiana Krupa, Head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Medical and Social Assessment Board, was searched. Law enforcement officers found US$100,000, medical documents displaying signs of forgery, and lists of "draft dodgers" with names and fictitious diagnoses in her office.
• At Krupa’s home, the SSU seized US$5,244,000; EUR 300,000; more than UAH 5,000,000; branded jewellery, as well as documents that may indicate money laundering through various business projects. During the investigation, the head of the MSAB tried to get rid of some of the money by throwing two bags with half a million dollars out of the window.
• Journalists found out that 49 prosecutors from Khmelnytskyi, led by oblast prosecutor Oleksii Oliinyk, obtained disability certificates from Tetiana Krupa, the Head of the Medical and Social Assessment Board and an oblast council member from the Servant of the People, the ruling party.
• In the city of Rivne, law enforcement officers discovered a large-scale draft evasion scheme via the MSAB, which was organised by the head of an estate agency along with medical workers. During over 50 searches, medical documents and money totalling UAH 14.5 million (approx. US$350,805) in various currencies were seized from suspects and health professionals in Rivne.
• Law enforcement officers exposed the head of Kharkiv’s MSAB, who, along with 12 accomplices, furnished men with fraudulent documents in exchange for US$2,000-US$5,000 to avoid conscription. Law enforcement officers performed 89 searches, seizing documents, draft records, mobile phones, computer equipment, and more than US$500,000, over €80,000, more than UAH 1 million (approx. US$24,193), as well as Russian roubles.

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