Ukraine’s parliament approves bill to dissolve medical expert commissions in 2025
Source: Yaroslav Zheleznyak
In a bid to address corruption in medical expert commissions, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has gone for the easiest solution – it has passed a bill to dissolve them, with 259 deputies voting in favor. Starting January 1, the current MSEC system will be replaced with expert commissions established in what is called cluster and supra-cluster hospitals. This move follows a decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dismantle MSEC by December 31, 2024.
It started on On October 4 when the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) uncovered corruption involving the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Center of Medical-Social Expertise, Tetiana Krupa, and her son, a senior official in the regional Pension Fund. Searches at their residences revealed approximately $5.2 million in cash, 300,000 euros, over 5 million hryvnias, and luxury jewelry, the origins of which they failed to explain.
The Anti-Corruption Court upheld her detention on December 9. This scandal drew a strong public reaction, prompting further inspections of MSEC employees and uncovering cases of fake disability certifications. Among those caugh red-handed were the head of Mykolaiv’s MSEC, with over $450,000 in cash found during searches, and a Central MSEC official caught taking bribes in November.
Investigators found that 61 prosecutors in Khmelnytskyi, including the regional prosecutor Oleksandr Oliinyk, had fraudulently obtained disability statuses to dodge the military service. Record also revealed that at least 50 identified “disabled” prosecutors collectively claimed 54.1 million hryvnias in pensions funded by taxpayers.
To commemorate the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion, “Bukvy” has compiled data on the largest donors supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Among them there are charitable foundations and businesses. The list includes, in particular, foundations that provide assistance exclusively from their own resources, without fundraising (such as SCM by Rinat Akhmetov, Epicenter, etc.).
In just 1.5 months, Ukrainian specialists have created an innovative protective shell for the control modules of anti-aircraft missile systems (AMS) Patriot and Iris-T SLM. This development was another step in strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities, aimed at protecting key elements of the air defense system from debris damage.
Military serviceman of the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine with the call sign “Paradox” is the crew commander of the American M113 armored personnel carrier. He is a master at using it and is constantly improving, because the legionnaire’s skills are tested every day in battle. You have to drive to the front lines, often under artillery fire and drone attacks.
Notorious supporter of the concept “in order for a cow to eat less and give more milk, it needs to be fed less and milked more” “Servant of the People” Danylo Hetmantsev, under the guise of “business requirements”, registered a draft law on the collection of VAT on all foreign purchases, regardless of their value. In other words, every Ukrainian, buying goods of any value and purpose abroad, when sending them to Ukraine, will have to pay an additional fifth part, or 20% of the cost of the goods.
Source: UJCU A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a facade of a synagogue in Mykolaiv…