Cabinet Approves Changes to the Structure of the State Agency for National Security

The government has adopted a decree establishing territorial directorates of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and determining their headquarters and areas of operation, the Council of Ministers’ press office said on October 7.

The changes provide for five territorial directorates, the areas of operation of which will cover the territories of several districts each. The aim is to optimise the agency’s activities and ensure the rational use of its resources.

The Council of Ministers also approved a draft law amending and supplementing the State Agency for Intelligence Act. The aims of the bill include setting out the key provisions concerning the Agency’s functions related to the acquisition and provision of intelligence information in a precise and comprehensive manner that does not allow for restrictive interpretation; regulating in law the authority of the Agency’s chairman to introduce additional security measures to protect classified information constituting an official secret, as well as to take measures to protect the operational archive and operational records; adding to the list of institutions specified in the law whose information holdings the Agency is entitled to use in a manner that does not reveal the Agency’s interest and in accordance with the “need-to-know” principle; and amending and supplementing the status of the Agency’s employees, including the chairman and deputy chairmen, among other provisions.