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June 25, and we have another candidate who is moving on to the next stage: Andrii Syniuk. He is a prosecutor in the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Syniuk has been working in the prosecutor’s office for more than 10 years. According to the candidate, during this time he was repeatedly encouraged by the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutors.
“My entire career is a story of fighting crime and fighting for justice,” Syniuk said at the beginning of the interview.
Syniuk is on the list of candidates whose integrity was questioned in the project “Unworthy of Heading the SAPO.” However, he provided explanations, and our experts analyzed them and made their conclusions.
The Commission members voted unanimously in favor of the candidate.
Another candidate, Roman Symkiv, did not go make it to the next stage. He is a SAPO prosecutor and has been working in the prosecutor’s office since 2006. It was Symkiv who led the cases of Nasirov, Martynenko, Alperin, Onyshchenko, as well as the case against Tatarov.
He gave details that in 2015 his car was burned. The prosecutor connects this with the investigation of the “amber cases.”
The Commission noted that according to their information, the candidate was allegedly nominated for the post of Prosecutor General by public activists. However, Symkiv said that he had no communication with activists and could not comment on that. He also has an award from international partners for participating in one of the investigations.
Six votes in favor (four of which were from representatives of the Council of Prosecutors) were not enough for him to pass to the next stage.
Ivan Smilyi, Deputy Chairman of Derzhgeokadastr, also failed. Previously, Smilyi was the head of a division in the NABU and investigated land-related cases. According to the candidate, it was thanks to this experience that he was able to fully study the principle of operation of Derzhgeokadastr and get the necessary knowledge to hold the position of Deputy Head of Derzhgeokadastr.
When the Commission members asked if he would have a conflict of interest (SAPO monitors NABU’s compliance with law), he assured that he would make a fundamental decision and act solely in the interests of legality.
The candidate was supported only by Kateryna Koval, Roman Kuibida, and Drago Kos.
After the commission’s disappointing decision Ivan Smilyi made an unexpected statement: “Your decision is unjustified, and the candidates you reject were really worthy. Roman Symkiv was interviewed today, and I think it was one of the best candidates. You had questions for me, for him, there were none, and he was still rejected. I ask the commission, please choose the SAPO head, it’s a must. SAPO should work, and not listen to different prosecutor general’s offices.”