Tsyvinskyi could spend the entire annual budget of the ESBU by September, - Ekonomichna Pravda
This is reported in an article by Ekonomichna Pravda.
As EP journalists note, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allocated 2.19 billion hryvnias for the Bureau’s operations this year, compared to 1.9 billion hryvnias in 2025. However, the Bureau itself complains that these funds will not be sufficient due to legal costs and potential lawsuits from former employees.
“The trend indicates increased financial risks of funding shortfalls for the ESBU throughout 2026. This could lead to a complete collapse in the ESBU’s operations as early as September–October this year,” the Bureau explains. They add that between 2022 and 2026, former ESBU employees won 3.26 million UAH in court rulings against the Bureau. It is worth noting that the Bureau plans to spend roughly the same amount in April alone on repairing two lifts and purchasing shredders and monitors.
Therefore, in addition to legal costs, the institution’s financial situation was likely affected by significant institutional expenditure and increases in the salaries of the ESBU’s management. According to the publication Apostrophe, following the appointment of Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi as director of the ESBU, these rose to 120–162,000 UAH per month. For example, the Bureau’s first deputy director received 166,000 UAH in December, whilst another deputy received 156,000 UAH. The salaries of the rest of the Bureau’s management are roughly at the same level: the head of the Department of Organisational Support received 151,000 UAH, and the head of the Operational Support Division received 146,000 UAH.
Furthermore, the Bureau spends significant sums on purchasing promotional merchandise and other representational expenses. In particular, the Bureau recently spent a quarter of a million hryvnias on satin scarves and eco-bags. It also plans to spend a further 295,000 hryvnias on updating its visual identity and brand book.
In other words, despite public claims of a lack of funds, the ESBU is actively spending money on items that do not directly impact the agency’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, according to journalists at Ekonomichna Pravda, its effectiveness remains low.
“Following Tsivinsky’s appointment as head of the ESBU, high hopes were once again placed on this agency. However, eight months on, the bureau has made almost no mark with high-profile operations or impressive results in de-shadowing the economy.
During meetings with journalists, the ESBU leadership reports on the growth in legal fuel sales in October–December 2025 (coinciding with the start of blackouts) or legal sales of household appliances (coinciding with ‘Black Friday’ and the Christmas and New Year holidays)”, the EP article states.
It also notes that in the 2026 budget, the government has allocated a special “reserve for the security and defence sector” amounting to 199 billion hryvnias. This is to be funded by the proceeds from the de-shadowing of the economy, which the ESBU is tasked with ensuring.
However, for the time being, due to the low effectiveness of the ESBU, Ukraine’s budget is losing out on billions of hryvnias.
As previously reported by ThePublic, MP Danylo Getmantsev stated that parliament is dissatisfied with the work of the Economic Security Bureau and plans to hear from the Bureau’s leadership in order to draw appropriate conclusions.
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