What happened? The commission announced the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). Detective of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau Oleksandr Klymenko won the competition for the position as early as December 2021.
Source. The meeting of the commission on conducting the competition for the position of the head of the SAPO.
Details. He scored 246 points, and prosecutor Andrii Syniuk – 229. Consequently, Klymenko is expected to become the head of the SAPO, and Syniuk – the deputy head.
Klymenko is a NABU detective known for his investigation of the case of Oleh Tatarov, the deputy head of the Presidential Office.
The approval of his candidacy by the Prosecutor General's Office will be the next stage. The Office should provide a confirmation that the winners of the competition are not involved in any corruption schemes and lustration processes.
Comments. However, the head of the Anti-Corruption Center Vitalii Shabunin assures that the competition is not over yet. Despite the fact that the commission has approved the formal decision on Klymenko's victory in the competition, the head is appointed by the Prosecutor General himself or his deputy.
“It is possible that while the Prosecutor General's Office drags on with the confirmation, which is not needed in fact, an appeal decision regarding the cancellation of the competition procedure will appear as well. The government can use this scheme in the future to disrupt the appointment process,” Shabunin believes.
Background. Western partners (primarily the USA) expressed their criticism regarding delaying the appointment of the SAPO prosecutor.
The President of the European Commission spoke in the Verkhovna Rada with a call to appoint the heads of the SAPO and NABU as soon as possible.