On 23 January, the renewed Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence held its first constituent meeting. Council members made several personnel decisions:
- Yurii Hudymenko, a retired junior sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and leader of the "Demokratychna Sokyra" movement, was elected Chairman of the Council;
- Tetiana Nikolaienko, an investigative journalist and representative of NAKO, was elected Deputy Chair;
- Oleh Chernov, a retired senior sergeant of the AFU, was elected Secretary of the Council.
Representatives of the Anti-Corruption Department of the Ministry of Defence attended the meeting. The chairman of the first convocation of the Public Anti-Corruption Council, Yevhen Hrushovets, also attended the meeting and shared his experience with the newly elected members. "I wished that the new Council, during its two-year term, would do everything possible to change and transform the existing non-transparent procurement procedures into competitive ones. Because if there is competition in the Ministry of Defence, there will be transparency, better prices, better quality, faster decisions in favour of the best supplier and, of course, our victory will come sooner," said Hrushovets.
First, the members of the Council plan to meet with the heads of the Defence Procurement Agency and the State Logistics Operator, as well as the Minister of Defence. "The people who elected us don't see us as assistants to the Ministry of Defence. They expect us to be the people who control the MoD. We must help where help is needed, but we must also work on changes," said Yuriy Gudymenko.
The election of the second composition of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence took place on 7 January 2025. The renewed council includes three representatives of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission: NAKO Executive Director Olena Tregub; investigative journalist Tetiana Nikolaienko; and NAKO Legal Advisor Maksym Kostetskyi.