Deputy Prosecutor General Davit Sakvarelidze was appointed as prosecutor of Odesa Oblast on Sept. 16. He will carry out duties for both positions.
Sakvarelidze is seen as one of the nation’s chief reformers at the law enforcement agency of 18,000 prosecutors. He has spearheaded anti-corruption efforts at the Prosecutor General’s Office, arresting two top prosecutors in July. He is also responsible for competitively hiring 700 new prosecutors through rigorous testing and trimming the office by 6,000 prosecutors.
Sakvarelidze’s appointment strengthens Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili’s team, which will now have more tools to implement their plans to stamp out corruption. Some analysts say, however, that now Sakvarelidze will have to devote less time to overhauling the PGO.
“We will do our best to crack down on oligarchs who take part in corruption schemes,” Saakashvili said while presenting Sakvarelidze at a news briefing in Odesa. “There are several clans, and we will cut these clans’ tentacles, regardless of whether it causes some pain in Kyiv.”
He also said that district prosecutors in Odesa Oblast take part in corruption schemes and that Sakvarelidze would “deal with them.”
Sakvarelidze said that he would be “ruthless and have zero tolerance for officials who profiteer during wartime.”
He also said he would also seek to stamp out corruption at the region’s seaports. “There’s a big flow of illicit money into some people’s pockets and offshore banks,” he added.
Sakvarelidze was first deputy prosecutor general in 2009-2012 during Saakashvili’s presidency in Georgia, when radical reforms of the law enforcement system and economy were carried out.
Sakvarelidze became known as “Comissar Cattani” for his uncompromising stance on crime in Georgia, where he cracked down on corrupt bureaucrats and the nation’s notorious organized crime community, known as “thieves-in-law.”
Giorgi Lorkipanidze, another Saakashvili ally and an ex-Georgian deputy interior minister, was appointed as Odesa Oblast’s police chief in June.
But until recently Saakashvili did not have a prosecutor that he could trust. Sasha Borovik, an advisor to Saakashvili, told the Kyiv Post that the authorities had previously been dragging their feet on appointing a new prosecutor in the region.
“It has been clear from the beginning that support from the police is not enough for Saakashvili,” Karl Volokh, an activist of the Civic Lustration Committee, said by phone. “In such a corrupt region as Odesa Oblast, it would be ludicrous to hope that, without his own regional prosecutor, he would be able to handle even a small fraction of the tasks that he set.”
Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta think tank, told the Kyiv Post that the appointment could be a concession to Saakashvili following his recent criticism of the Cabinet for allegedly sabotaging reforms and serving oligarchs.
He also said that the appointment could “divert his attention from the reform at the Prosecutor General’s Office,” which is in the interests of Sakvarelidze’s opponents.
Analysts argue that Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and his first deputy Yury Sevruk, who have been accused of sabotaging Sakvarelidze’s reform and anti-corruption efforts, could profit from the Georgian’s transfer to Odesa.
But Volokh argued that Sakvarelidze might be able to deal with both Odesa Oblast and prosecutorial reform nationwide.
“He’s an absolute workaholic, he can work for almost 20 hours per day,” he said. “The reform machine that he has launched is already working, and he will keep paying lots of attention to it.”
The appointment also prompted speculation on whether Sakvarelidze will be able to crack down on corruption in one isolated region, given the dysfunctional court system and unreformed law enforcement agencies nationwide.
“Until recently I thought the court system was totally paralyzed, and I would have said decisively that he would not be able to do it,” Volokh said. “Now I would think a cop and a prosecutor, combined, are capable of disciplining judges… I would give them a chance.”
He also said that there “almost no judges” in Odesa Oblast who are not linked to Serhiy Kivalov, an ally of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych who is highly influential in Odesa. Kivalov’s spokeswoman Larisa Tkach dismissed the claim as “ludicrous.”
“Reform of the court system is becoming more and more relevant,” Fesenko said. “Without it, anti-corruption efforts will be stalled.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Oleg Sukhov can be reached at [email protected]
