SBU Head Ivan Bakanov believes that the Verkhovna Rada will soon consider a draft law "On the Security Service of Ukraine”, presented to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The document contains system innovations that will allow the Ukrainian special service to turn to qualitatively different format in its activities.

“The Head of State has defined this draft law as urgent. And I believe that the Verkhovna Rada will consider it soon enough. After all, in our situation, when Ukraine confronts many threats, both external and internal, the reform of the Security Service of Ukraine is getting more urgent every day. This is not just a legislative issue, but an opportunity for the Service to work more effectively and, as a result, to improve the security of the entire state,”- Ivan Bakanov said.

He added that he considers the draft law to be balanced, as it took into account the world's best tendencies for creation effective special services and the SBU's own experience in countering hybrid threats.

The draft law No. 3196 was registered on March 10. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took the initiative of its submitting. The draft law was prepared on the basis of a document developed by the SBU specialists and submitted to the Office of the President in October 2019, where it was finalized in the format of the working group meetings. The final version also includes key international partners' proposals.

Among the main innovations of the draft law: it differentiates the competencies of the SBU and other security sector agencies, defines new priorities in its work. The Service will also abandon its unusual functions. The SBU will be demilitarized with the introduction of its flexible structure.

The Service will focus on counterintelligence counteraction to threats to state security, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism, protection of state secrets, etc. Also a significant strengthening of the information and analytical component in the SBU's activities, the transferring from a reactive approach in work to a proactive and risk-oriented one is provided.

The SBU will not undertake economic crimes, but will focus on protection of critical infrastructure facilities.

The progressive reduction of the SBU personnel: from 27 thousand to 15 thousand people will take place. This will improve the level of social security of employees, their military pay, which is currently the lowest among law enforcement agencies, and will be increased after the reform to the level of NABU, DBR and other newly created anti-corruption bodies. 

The strengthening of the parliamentary oversight of the activities of the Security Service of Ukraine is in the planning stage. Particular focus will be placed on the minimizing the risks of political interference in the activities of the SBU.