SAPO Competition: Applications Open for the Deputy Head Position

The Competition Commission for organizing and conducting the competition for administrative positions at the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has announced an open competitive selection for the post of SAPO deputy head.

Applications will be accepted from 9:00 a.m. on August 19 to 6:00 p.m. on September 21, 2026. Documents submitted later will not be considered.

The post is open to anyone with a higher legal education, at least five years of experience in the field of law, and command of the state language.

Applications may be submitted by email to [email protected] or in person to the Secretariat of the Competition Commission at the Training Center for Prosecutors of Ukraine. The full list of required documents is set out in the announcement.

How the selection will work

The competition will comprise eleven stages in total: 

1. admission of candidates; 
2. an anonymous computer-based test of legal knowledge — 100 questions, with a passing score of 80 out of 100, though only the top 50 candidates advance; 
3. an anonymous test of general abilities and skills — verbal, abstract-logical, and mathematical sections — comprising 90 questions, with a passing average score of 107, after which the top 30 candidates advance; 
4. a special background check under the laws on Corruption Prevention and on Purification of Power; 
5. a review of compliance with the integrity criterion; 
6. two practical assignments — one on professional skills, one on organizational and leadership abilities (each scored out of 100, assessed anonymously and, where needed, with outside experts); 
7. an interview (up to 60 minutes, assessing integrity and professional competence separately).

After all the stages, the Commission will select two candidates by vote and submit them to the Prosecutor General for the final appointment decision. The final choice between the two candidates for SAPO deputy head thus rests with the Prosecutor General.

SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko’s term ends in July 2027. It is therefore vital to run this selection as transparently and promptly as possible in order to identify a professional deputy head of integrity — since that person will likely exercise the powers of SAPO head once Klymenko’s tenure ends. 

This selection will differ from the previous one — for the SAPO head and deputy head — which ran from October 2020 to July 2022. The reason is that parliament has revamped the procedure: the Competition Commission now has just 6 members (rather than 11 as before); the law has removed the conditions that allowed its decisions to be blocked, so a quorum can now be reached with fewer members; and clearly defined stages, along with integrity and competence criteria, have been introduced.

We at Transparency International Ukraine will be monitoring the competition’s progress.