Illegal dual office-holding: DRS head Kucher simultaneously chaired the supervisory board of SE "Forests of Ukraine"

Head of the State Regulatory Service Oleksiy Kucher simultaneously held the position of head of a central executive body and the chair of the supervisory board of SE "Forests of Ukraine."

Despite a direct prohibition enshrined in the Constitution, this dual office-holding has still not received proper legal evaluation, in particular from the NACP. In addition, such an appointment also contradicts the provisions of the Law "On Prevention of Corruption."

Kucher was appointed head of the State Regulatory Service back in 2021. In 21 January 2025 the Cabinet of Ministers, by Order No. 46-r, approved his candidacy as the state's representative to the supervisory board of SE "Forests of Ukraine."

Already in 2 April the members of the newly formed supervisory board elected Kucher its chair. In addition, he joined the audit committee and the appointments and remuneration committee. It was only in February 2026 that his departure from the supervisory board became known. Neither the Cabinet nor Kucher himself publicly explained the reasons for this "spontaneous" decision.

The Constitution itself provides the legal assessment of these circumstances. Paragraph 1 of Article 120 directly prohibits heads of central executive bodies from being members of governing bodies or supervisory boards of enterprises and organizations that aim to generate profit. This interpretation of that provision was confirmed by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in decision No. 16-rp/2002 back in 2002.

A similar prohibition on holding dual offices is contained in item 2 of part 1 of Article 25 of the Law "On Prevention of Corruption." It explicitly forbids persons authorized to perform state functions from being members of supervisory boards of enterprises whose activities are aimed at generating profit. The mere fact of being a member of a supervisory board already forms the basis of an administrative offense provided for in Articles 172-4 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses.

Formally, the ground for appointing Oleksiy Kucher was representation of the state's interests on the supervisory board. However, that argument does not negate the constitutional prohibition. The Law "On Prevention of Corruption" provides that the relevant exception applies only when the Constitution of Ukraine does not establish otherwise. Second, Article 120 of the Constitution contains no exceptions for heads of central executive bodies who represent state interests. Third, at the time of the appointment SE "Forests of Ukraine" was a state unitary enterprise, not a joint-stock company, so the legislative exception regarding management of the state's corporate rights does not apply in this case.

Moreover, the presented facts provide grounds for the NACP to investigate a possible conflict of interest involving Oleksiy Kucher.