A special commission on July 18 elected 27 people for top jobs in the State Investigative Bureau, a new, highly-anticipated investigative body that is expected to start its work in November.
However, half of the names had been leaked in advance to Ukrainian media, prompting critics to conclude that the competition had been rigged, with pre-approved government loyalists getting the top jobs by bypassing competition procedures.
The Ukrainska Pravda news website, which published a list of 15 names it got from its sources on the day before the official selection, called the commission a “puppet body.”
When launched, the State Investigative Bureau will take away all investigations away from the Prosecutor General’s Office. The bureau will have the power to investigate former Ukrainian presidents, lawmakers and top officials.
Oleksandr Lemenov, an anti-corruption expert at the Reanimation Package of Reforms, said the three most notorious candidates did not get into the final list, which was a trick to make the public turn a blind eye on the rest of the candidates with a marred reputation.
However, Lemenov said that “a bit less than a third” of 27 chosen candidates have a tarnished past.
Ukrainska Pravda also reported that 11 out of the selected candidates were linked to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, while Oleg Denega, who became head of the bureau’s Mykolaiv city branch, is close to President Petro Poroshenko’s loyalist lawmaker Oleksandr Hranovsky.
Lemenov said the efficiency of the State Investigative Bureau will mostly depend on its Chief Roman Truba.
Commenting on the accusations of selecting candidates with tarnished reputation, Truba said the 27 officials will additionally be vetted by government bodies and the Civil Oversight Council, a non-government advisory body.
Truba, who was appointed in November, himself has a controversial background.
Lemenov and other anti-graft activists said then that the selection of Truba and his deputies, Olga Varchenko and Oleksandr Buryak, had been rigged in favor of government loyalists. Truba, Varchenko, and Buryak denied the accusations.
Truba is close to the People’s Front, the second-biggest faction with 81 members in parliament, according to Lemenov and Volodymyr Petrakovsky, a law enforcement expert from the Reanimation Package of Reforms.
Varchenko is a former deputy head of the so-called “Kononenko-Hranovsky” department of the Prosecutor General’s Office – named after alleged influence of Poroshenko’s top allies and lawmakers Ihor Kononenko and Oleksandr Hranovsky.
She has been accused of having political links to Hranovsky. Varchenko has admitted being acquainted with Hranovsky but the lawmaker has denied influencing her former department.
Truba has also been accused of being close to ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka.
In June 2013, Truba praised Pshonka in an interview with the Voice of the People newspaper.
“Right now before my eyes, as if it were yesterday, I see my meeting with Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and later my presentation (to employees) by the regional prosecutor, Vitaly Kovbasyuk,” he said.
In December 2013, Truba was the prosecutor in a criminal case against EuroMaidan activist Adnriy Shevtsiv, charging him with blocking traffic during a protest.
Participants of the State Investigation Bureau competition, including lawyer Vitaly Tytych and prosecutor Sergii Gorbatuk, have filed several lawsuits to annul its results. They argue that numerous procedures had been violated, and the selection of officials was entirely arbitrary. The bureau denies the accusations.
For example, Gorbatuk was not allowed to take part because he had allegedly not had managerial experience. He filed a complaint, providing documents that he had managed investigative groups – including a unit in the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Meanwhile, Varchenko was allowed to take part in the competition despite not having passed the required 35-year threshold when she submitted documents. The commission even waited until she reached the required age.
