MSEC will be liquidated in 2025: Zelenskyy signs reform law

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on the liquidation of the MSEC. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law on the liquidation of medical and social expert commissions from 1 January 2025.

This is confirmed by the card of the draft law №12178.

Instead, expert commissions will start working. The government assures that the reform is intended to significantly simplify the process of obtaining disability status. They also promise to reduce bureaucratic procedures, introduce digital solutions and make all stages of the assessment transparent.

It is noted that the data will be recorded in an electronic system, which should make corruption impossible.

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As a reminder, starting from 1 January, 37 expert teams have been set up in Mykolaiv Oblast to conduct disability assessments, which will operate at designated hospitals.

Searches of the head of the Mykolaiv MSEC

On 22 October, it became known that the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Medical Expert Commission was searched. It is the acting chief physician of the institution, Vira Bieliakova, who was found to be in possession of over $450,000. In addition, her son was found to have a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation issued before the full-scale invasion.

Later, NikVesti found out that law enforcement officers had not yet detained or served anyone with suspicion in the proceedings over the searches of the head of the Mykolaiv MSEC.

The prosecutor's office only asked the court to seize the seized property in Bieliakova's apartment.

At the same time, the Prosecutor General's Office told the journalists of «Slovo i Dilo» that the searches of Bieliakova's house were not conducted as part of a corruption crime, but rather on the grounds of obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Following the searches of the head of the medical and social expert commission in Mykolaiv region and the abuse of disability by officials of various state bodies, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council and signed a law on the liquidation of medical and social expert commissions.

In March 2024, law enforcement officers in Mykolaiv exposed a scheme to sell fake certificates of fitness for military service for health reasons. Among the five detainees was Svitlana Biletska, deputy to Vira Bieliakova of the Mykolaiv Regional Medical and Social Expertise Centre (MSEC).