The investigative journalism agency Chetverta Vlada has won a lawsuit over access to data on the salaries of the territorial enlistment centers’ management in Rivne oblast, concluding a year and nine months of litigation, the media outlet reports.
In January 2024, the journalists sent a query to the Rivne oblast enlistment center, asking about the management’s salaries and the total number of staff, but their request was declined. Journalist Valentyna Paniuk then brought the matter to court, which sided with the plaintiff and ordered the enlistment center to provide the information. The Court of Appeal, where the enlistment center turned, upheld this ruling.
Despite the court ruling, the journalists never received the requested information, which prompted Chetverta Vlada to contact the executive service with a request to open proceedings and enforce the court decision against the enlistment center.
However, over time, the media outlet writes, they were ignored not only by the enlistment center, but also by the enforcement service. The enforcement service eventually stated that the enlistment center had cited military secrets and internal executive proceedings as reasons for refusal.
Then Valentyna Paniuk sued the Rivne oblast enforcement service, demanding that their actions be recognized as unlawful and the decision to terminate the enforcement proceedings be canceled. On 24 September 2025, the court satisfied the journalist’s claim in full and ordered the enforcement service to pay her the UAH 1,211 of court fees.
Moreover, Chetverta Vlada was able to obtain some information about the enlistment center management’s salaries during this trial, when the center’s attorney provided documents containing some of the requested data at a hearing. The journalists later received the remaining information on 2024 salaries from the enlistment center’s senior accountant.
Chetverta Vlada has released several reports on the salaries of territorial enlistment center staff. As IMI reported, a Chetverta Vlada journalist faced obstruction while filming the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Rivne Razom reception office in September.