Investigation: the head of the HQCJU does not have a Russian passport

The journalistic investigation of the "Schemes" project refuted the information of the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) that the head of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJU) has a Russian passport. The number of the document released by the FIS is a combination of numbers from his Soviet passport.

Even a year ago, during the selection of commission members, according to "Schemes", the journalist of the program Heorhii Shabaev checked Roman Ihnatov as a candidate for the HQCJU.

It turned out that he only had an old Soviet passport, he never received Russian citizenship, and there is no such citizen on the records of the Russian official system "Rospassport".

Yesterday, the Competition Commission for the selection of members of the Ukrainian National Committee reacted to the information about the probable presence of Ihnatovʼs Russian passport. They noted that during the selection, Ignatov provided documents confirming his Ukrainian citizenship and that he does not have the citizenship of other states.

Claiming that Ihnatov has a Russian passport, the Foreign Intelligence Service cites the following document number: 6140 640912. However, a passport with such a number does not actually exist.

This is a combination of the number of Ihnatovʼs old Soviet passport (the first six digits are 614064) and the date of its receipt (09.12). In addition, the third and fourth digits must correspond to the year of issue. That is, the "40" series will begin to be issued in Russia only in 2040.

• On December 21, the media began to claim that the Foreign Intelligence Service had sent a letter to the HQCJU stating that the head of the commission Roman Ihnatov may be a citizen of the Russian Federation. In particular, the "Mirror of the Week" (ZN.UA) newspaper wrote about this with reference to its own sources in the HQCJU and the Supreme Council of Justice (SCJ).
• Information about Ihnatovʼs alleged possession of a Russian passport began to spread back in June, when a new member of the HQCJU was appointed, thereby unblocking the bodyʼs work. Then, in an interview, Ihnatov denied that he had Russian citizenship. He said that in the 1990s he really studied and worked in Russia, but he only had a passport of a citizen of the USSR, which he received at the age of 16. After Ignatovʼs return to his native Luhansk Region in 1996, his Ukrainian citizenship was confirmed — since then he has undergone numerous thorough checks to get a job in the prosecutorʼs office and courts. In particular, the last inspections were carried out by the Competition Commission for the selection of members of the HQCJU and SCJ, which completed the selection.
• The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJU) is a body responsible for the formation of the judicial corps. The HQCJU conducts a competition for judges in all courts of Ukraine: checks candidates and conducts exams. The commission consists of sixteen members — they are elected or appointed by the congress of judges, representatives of law schools, lawyers, the ombudsman for human rights, and the head of the state judicial administration.
• The creation of the High Council of Justice and the HQCJU is one of the requirements for starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU.