Civil service reform: Online selection for republican-level leaders

From now on, the heads of republican-level organizations will also be selected through the Unified Portal of Vacant Positions of State Civil Servants. This is stated in the Presidential Decree “On Measures to Organize the State Civil Service Based on New Approaches and Form a Professional and Effective Civil Servant Corps, adopted on June 19.

According to the Decree, beginning August 1 of this year, competitions for management and support positions at the republican, regional, and district (city) levels will be conducted exclusively via the Unified Portal of Vacant Positions.

For positions that require coordination with relevant authorities under current legislation, representatives of those bodies will be included in the selection commission as part of the appointment process.

Candidate testing will take place in specially equipped rooms using the Civil Servant Testing Module or through an online remote proctoring system. The decision on whether to conduct tests in-person or remotely will be made by the Civil Service Development Agency, based on analysis of applications, surveys, and submitted requests.

The Agency has also been granted several key rights:

• To involve experts from government agencies, civil society institutions, higher education institutions, scientific organizations, or public councils in the interview phase of competitions.
•  To submit a binding recommendation to the relevant state body to cancel a selection commission decision if serious flaws are identified that could not be rectified and have influenced the outcome of the competition.

As previously reported, the same decree also introduces a new system for first-time civil servants: their initial employment contracts will be valid for one year, and extended indefinitely based on positive performance evaluations.