The Verkhovna Rada began collecting signatures for the appointment of Andrii Kostin, an MP from "Servant of the People," as the Prosecutor General. He took part in negotiations with Russia at the beginning of the war. In June of last year, he dropped out of the competition for the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, MP from "Holos" party, informed about this.
The MP noted that such a procedure is not necessary for the presidentʼs submission, but it "creates the impression that the majority of MPs ["Servants of the People"] have an influence on something."
Yurchyshyn says that the appointment of Kostin will be a typical landing of an inside person in the "necessary" chair.
"What does this show? On the one hand, OP [Presidentʼs Office] understands (at least part of it) that having an avatar in the face of [OP Deputy Chairman Oleh] Tatarov in the position of Prosecutor General will not be possible. And keeping him in the status of "acting" in a country at war is also not very attractive. But it is to trade bad for worse. And for this "worse" the chances to gather enough votes are real. Because he is their man, a "servant of the people" person. And he is also Yermakʼs man, another soldier of the president," Yurchyshyn wrote on Facebook.
He added that the candidacy for the position of the head of the Security Service has not changed — Vasyl Maliuk, the first deputy of the former head of the SBU.
- In the evening of July 17, two presidential decrees were issued — on the removal of Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and on the removal of SBU head Ivan Bakanov from his duties. For the time being, the duties of the Prosecutor General will be performed by Venediktovaʼs deputy Oleksiy Simonenko, and the head of the SBU — Vasyl Maliuk, the first deputy.
- On July 18, Zelensky submitted to the Rada a request for the dismissal of Venediktova and Bakanov. On the morning of July 19, the president dismissed the deputy head of the Security Service and changed the heads of the SBU in five regions.
- On July 19, the commission determined the winner of the competition for the position of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office — NABU detective Oleksandr Klymenko. He must be approved for the position by the Prosecutor General.
- On July 22, MP from the "Holos" Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that Maliuk might become the new head of the SBU, and Kostin, who is currently the head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy, may become the Prosecutor General.
- The head of the "Servant of the People" faction, David Arakhamia, said that the new prosecutor general will be appointed within 10 days — by the end of the month. After that, the new Prosecutor General will appoint the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office.