The Economy and Authorities To Be Purged of Criminals

Yevhen Marchuk, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NDSC), who accompanied President Leonid Kuchma during his informal visit to the USA on December 8-9, said that the US would offer Ukraine consultative aid to establish a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). In addition, the United States will also contribute to “investigations in a number of concrete cases,” the NDSC Secretary noted. He announced this after his Washington meetings with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot, CIA Director George Tenet, first deputies of the FBI director and Defense Secretary, and National Security Advisor Leon Firth. According to Mr. Marchuk, the American party has “an original viewpoint on this problem, with due account of the way it is unfolding in this country.” Mr. Marchuk pointed out that there is no agency in Ukraine now “which could negotiate with the FBI,” but, still, the NBI will not be an “FBI analogue.” “The National Bureau of Investigations must be a small structure of a few hundred persons,” he stressed, “one which will not be a white-glove elite but will comprise high-class professionals who will establish the highest standards of work to deal with important cases.” As to the prospective NBI head, Mr. Marchuk noted there are now at least three candidates, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

In all likelihood, the intention of establishing a new law-enforcement agency in Ukraine is directly connected with Mr. Marchuk’s other statements that it is planned to begin in the immediate future “a fundamentally new stage” in solving the problem of “decriminalizing the economy and the government structures.” Moreover, the Committee on Issues of Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, which is under the President of Ukraine, is to meet today and be addressed by Leonid Kuchma. In Mr. Marchuk’s words, the agency he heads continues to work out proposals to be published immediately after the formation of a new government. In addition, Mr. Marchuk highlighted, “Combating corruption is only one of the elements to be dealt with by NDSC. The problem is broader: to decriminalize the economy.” He added that the problems behind this often go beyond the competence of the law enforcement agencies.