For almost a year and a half, the commission for the election of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office couldn’t complete the competition and approve the winner.
The commission consists of four people determined by the Council of Prosecutors: Roman Kuibida, Nona Tsotsoria, Drago Kos, Thomas Firestone, as well as seven people determined by the Verkhovna Rada: Kateryna Koval, Olena Busol, Andrii Hudzhal, Viacheslav Navrotskyi, Bohdan Romaniuk, Yevhen Sobol, and Oleksii Drozd (who recused himself).
We have compiled a chronology of events from the beginning of the formation of the commission’s composition to their last meeting in 2021, which took place on December 24, in one convenient format. The opportunity to see the full picture of the selection process for the head of the SAPO allows to discard other doubts, if someone else had them, that the competition is systematically disrupted.
Before you scroll through the timeline of sabotage of the commission’s work by some of its members, we will remind you why this competition is so important for Ukraine:
• The imperfection of the Criminal Procedural Code allows the Prosecutor General’s Office to go beyond its competence and encroach on the institutional independence of the SAPO. The most striking example of such an intervention was the Tatarov case. SAPO is trying to work effectively in these conditions, but the threat of extra-legal pressure from the PA and the PGO remains.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, having signed the Memorandum, promised the International Monetary Fund to complete the competition for the election of the SAPO head by the end of November 2021. However, the obligation was never fulfilled, although Ukraine received a financial tranche from the IMF. Due to the open delay in the SAPO competition, Zelenskyy, Yermak, and other government officials are losing the trust of Western partners in Ukraine, and, as a result, opportunities for cooperation and development.
So, scroll through the calendar of the activity and inactivity of the SAPO head selection commission. See how the meetings were disrupted and who did it.
The opportunity to see the full picture of the selection process for the head of the SAPO allows to discard other doubts, if someone else had them, that the competition is systematically disrupted.
