Head of Mykolaiv MSEC suspected of false declaration

Vira Bilyakova, the chief physician of the regional center for medical and social examination of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, was served with a notice of suspicion of declaring false information.

This was reported by the head of the Mykolaiv Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office in the Southern Region, Andriy Klopov, Nikcenter reports.

The official is suspected of a criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - declaring false information. Belyakova faces a fine of 2,500 to 3,000 tax-free minimum incomes, community service for 150 to 240 hours, or imprisonment for up to three years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

In late October, law enforcement officers searched the homes of Vira Bilyakova and her son as part of an investigation into a mobilization evasion scheme. During the searches, they found more than $450,000 in cash, jewelry and three undeclared apartments registered to her son, Oleksiy Maksymenko, an intern at the medical university. Most of the cash and jewelry were also found in her son's apartment.

Since the summer of 2022, Belyakova and her son have owned four apartments in Odesa. One of them, a one-room apartment on Lustdorfska Road, Belyakova included in her declaration, indicating the value of UAH 1.3 million. However, according to her declaration for 2022, the official had no such savings, as her annual income was just over half a million hryvnias.

In addition, they both received the second group of disability, which allowed them to receive additional benefits and social payments from the state. Three other apartments were registered in the name of Belyakova's son and were not listed in her declaration. The cost of the new apartments, located in the residential complexes 51 Perlyna, Graf and Nahirny, is estimated at between 80 and 90 thousand dollars each.

At the end of October, the State Bureau of Investigation reported exposing an organized group of doctors who helped healthy men of military age obtain medical documents that allowed the medical and social expert commission to declare them unfit for service.

The Government recently approved a plan to combat corruption among medical and social expert commissions. The Ministry of Health also submitted a draft law to change the process of health assessment and disability determination. The Ministry of Health also presented a draft law on changing the process of assessing functionality, determining disability and liquidating the MSEC. The draft was submitted for public discussion and discussed with experts.

In November, Ukraine launched a reform of medical and social expertise aimed at eliminating the old bureaucratic system and introducing a new, more efficient mechanism focused on human needs.

Олеся Ланцман