Medical expert commissions to be phased out – Zelensky’s decree
Source: president.gov.ua
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree that will pull the plug on medical social expert commisions after they were found granting fake disability status to prosecutors across the country. As part of this plan, the medical-social expert commissions can be dissolved starting December 31, 2024.
The decree orders a comprehensive inspection of MSEC war-time decisions on disability status granted to officials and commands that any unjustified rulings be reassessed.
The National Security Council has recommended that reports on how this issue is addressed must come from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the National Police, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau report
The government is required to draft several legislative proposals for Parliament, including:
- A bill developed with the Ministry of Health to reform the medical-social assessment system, introducing an evaluation framework for individuals with limited daily functioning, and officially dissolving the MSECs by December 31, 2024.
- A bill with the Ministry of Social Policy to revise the pension system for public officials to ensure fairness in pensions and benefits calculations.
- A bill with the Prosecutor General’s Office to regulate salary and pension and benefits structures for prosecutors, with a focus on social protections for those with disabilities.
The government will need to join forces with the Pension Fund, SBI, National Police, and SBU, to conduct an audit of pension payments granted on the basis of disability to public officials.
Amendments to Ukraine’s enforcement proceedings legislation, initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, have entered into force. Among other measures, the reform provides for the automated lifting of attachments on bank accounts immediately after debts in enforcement proceedings have been fully settled. The main practical benefit for citizens is the complete elimination of the need to contact an enforcement officer in person and wait for paper decisions once the debt has been paid.
The 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade has received another batch of supplies as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative. This time, the military received seven quad bikes and four mobile shower and bath units.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.