You're reading: Lutsenko sacks Rivne region’s prosecutor

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has dismissed Prosecutor in Rivne Region Anatoliy Kovalchuk.

A respective order was signed by Lutsenko on July 6, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office has reported.

Rivne region is on the radar screen due to a notorious case related to the illegal production of amber. As was reported earlier, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on July 4 that 32 people were suspected of creating a criminal gang to illegally mine amber in forests in the region, causing environmental damages.

Lutsenko in turn said he would remove regional prosecutor Kovalchuk from performing his duty, and would completely replace the heads of the regional prosecutor’s office in due course, as it has been revealed that law-enforcement agencies in Rivne region were engaged in the illegal amber production.

Kyiv’s Holosiyivsky district has recently ruled to arrest all five suspected persons in the amber case for two months with a Hr 2.7 million bail option.

Deputy Prosecutor of Rivne region Andriy Borovyk was among the arrested.