“I will express an unpopular opinion that the current anti-corruption officials and leaders cannot publicly announce, but speak about it non-publicly. Let’s be honest: given the scandals in which this competition is now taking place, what people were eliminated during the competition, what is the time is coming for the selection of the director of NABU, I think that it would be better for the country to hold these competitions in parallel – both for the position of the director of NABU and for the position of the head of the SAP, “he said.
According to the ex-head of the SAP, it is necessary “to update the anti-corruption system.”
“The way this competition is being held now is a shame. Everyone writes about shame, shame. Recognize one math number that is larger than another, – is not needed for this particular separate solution. But we cannot do this, “Kholodnitsky stressed.
He noted that the competition for the director of NABU begins in April 2022, “and there was no horse lying there either: there is no commission, nothing is being done, and already the end of the year.”
According to the results of the competition for the position of the head of the SAP, one finalist, NABU detective Alexander Klimenko, received 246 points, and the second finalist, prosecutor of the Office of the Prosecutor General Andrey Sinyuk, – 229 points. The winner has not been announced since December 21, when the competition came to an end.
December 24 some of the commission members also refused to recognize the results competition.
There is currently no head in the SAP. Previous – Kholodnitsky – resigned in august 2020 year. He headed the department since 2015. The duties of the head of the SAP are performed by the first deputy Maxim Grischuk.
In October 2020, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that counts on the election of a new head of SAP “in the coming months”.
On September 17, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft resolution, which approved the members of the commission on holding a competition for occupying administrative positions in SAP… The commission consists of 11 people: four are delegated by the Council of Prosecutors, seven – by the parliament. The proposed candidates were criticized by opposition parliamentary factions, indicating that they had no experience in the fight against corruption (this requirement is contained in Article 8 of the Law “On the Prosecutor’s Office”). MEPs, members of the Foreign Affairs Committee Viola von Cramont-Taubadel and Michael Gahler stated before the vote that Ukraine risks losing IMF support and visa-free travel with the EU.
Acceptance of documents from applicants for the post of head of SAP began on January 25, 2021 and lasted until February 15. To participate in the competition for vacant positions in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, 169 people submitted documents, of which admitted 128 applicants.
On September 2, the United States and Ukraine released a joint statement in which Ukraine promised to immediately ensure the election of new heads of SAP and NABU. Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova on November 10 expressed expectations that new head of SAP will be appointed by the end of the year… The same hopes voiced by Zelensky.
Several meetings of the commission for the selection of the head of the SAP in late November – early December were disrupted. According to the head of the CPC Vitaly Shabunin, this happened because of the “members of the Commission controlled by the Banking Commission”… In the competition for the post of head of SAP “unpleasant, opaque, illogical things” happen, and the actions of some members of the commission look strange, says the director of NABU Artem Sytnik.
7 december the competition committee has identified two candidatesthose who make it to the final part of the competition are Klimenko and Sinyuk.
The ambassadors of the Big Seven (USA, UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy) on December 6 met with the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and talked to him about the importance of fast and transparent completion of the competition for the post of head of the SAP, on December 18 they met with Zelensky and also talked about this competition.
20th of December District Administrative Court of Kiev (OASK) canceled the order the work of the competition commission and the holding of a competition for the position of the head of the SAP. According to the lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Center Elena Shcherban, if the court of appeal does not cancel the decision of the OASK, then this will be the basis for recognizing the future election of the head of the SAP as illegal.
On December 21, the commission announced the results of the competition for the post of head of the SAP, but did not approve the winner… The decision to approve the results of the competition was supported by four members of the commission from international organizations and one from the Verkhovna Rada – Vyacheslav Navrotsky. At the same time, five other members of the parliamentary commission did not vote for the decision: Elena Busol, Yevgeny Sobol, Andrey Guzhal, Bogdan Romanyuk, and Koval. As a result, the commission did not get enough votes to approve the draft decision.
Chief editor of “Ukrainian Truth” Sevgil Musaeva noted on Facebook on December 22 that the head of the SAP, if elected and in the case of his absolute independence from the government, threatens the salaries of people’s deputies from the “Servant of the People” in envelopes, the Big Construction project and cases against PrivatBank and businessman Igor Kolomoisky.
“It seems to me that even this list is enough to understand why there is still no head of the SAP and why OASK, two days before the announcement of the winner of the competition, makes a decision that will actually annul it,” she explained.
Sytnik has been the head of NABU since 2015.
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