"Schrödinger's Attorney General." Will Kostin Be Replaced This Time?

The chair occupied by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrii Kostin continues to shake. This time because of a scandal involving his deputy, Dmytro Verbytskyi. Journalists found that his girlfriend has property, the value of which is ten times higher than her income in recent years. As a result, Kostin was summoned to explain this situation regarding the property to the parliament. However, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine did not come, having sent a letter explaining that he would visit the building under the dome only after conducting an official inspection of Verbytskyi.

But if Kostin is fired this time, it will mean two things. First, the political leaders on Bankova Street put together a personnel puzzle — they want to vote for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in a package with new ministers. Secondly, the Office of the President of Ukraine has removed the toxic political ballast. The dismissal of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Kostin is unlikely to be an attempt to fundamentally change the situation in the system of criminal justice bodies. Rather, it will be another change of scenery in a political play, where the parliament is given the predictably impersonal role of an extra by the "directors" from Bankova Street.

And there is even information that political leaders have already chosen the further "fate" for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Kostin. Namely, they plan to appoint him to perform diplomatic work. However, Andrii Yevhenovych himself, who really wanted to go to London (but the place there is already taken by Valerii Zaluzhnyi), is currently resisting and does not write an application for dismissal on his own.

"Achievements" of the current Prosecutor General of Ukraine

We in the columns of ZN.UA have already analyzed the results of the first 100 days of the work of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Kostin, when he dismissed the "Medvedchuk lawyer" Maksym Yakubovskyi (who now works as the deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) military counterintelligence...) and appointed Dmytro Verbytskyi and Oleksii Khomenko as deputies. Interestingly, then the deputy head of the president's office, Oleh Tatarov, defended Ihor Mustetsa, who left Kostin's deputy in his post. Subsequently, two more were appointed, namely Anton Voytenko and Viktoriya Litvinova.

Almost two years have passed since the analysis of the first months of work of the new head of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. And what situation do we have as of today? Nothing new. As the saying goes, stability is a sign of class. Although it is worth noting that only the importance of the role of Tatarov has increased, who in fact manages the entire structure of the prosecutor's office through the deputies of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine under his control.

Certification of prosecutors, initiated by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapko, is still ongoing. No high-profile criminal proceedings with already received sentences have been recorded.

While we are fighting for the for a good and reliable reputation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) (and the institutions of the anti-corruption bloc, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, do not have a direct relationship with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine), the entire system of criminal justice bodies remains unreformed. It has already come to the point that "those who work in the office" (as they are called in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) system. —  O.L.) directly instruct the prosecutors on how to act. And this is not fiction, the workers from Volodymyrska Street bragged about еhis state of affairs to me personally.

The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Kostin, became the boss, who is always away and is not at work. He was aptly named "prosecutor general of foreign affairs". And when he did find himself at the workplace, he tried not to take upon himself the solution of complex and sensitive issues. Because of that, he was not particularly valuable for Bankova Street.

It is not surprising that American partners, namely Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in a conversation with the top military and political leadership of our country, points to the global problem of the lack of fight against corruption in the criminal justice system. President of Ukraine Zelenskyy is extremely dissatisfied with this point of view on this issue. But what to do if the president of Ukraine himself does not want to do anything? The situation is really critical. The system has begun to collapse and is difficult to control. It switched to the "household calculation", that is, to the management method based on the ratio of income and expenses. At the same time, the system obeys the orders of only the deputy head of the president's office, Tatarov.

How Tatarov manages the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine

It is quite easy to track this in the context of the work of the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Kostin, who does not get out of foreign trips to Washington, The Hague or Brussels. And let's be honest, was he appointed with the aim of establishing legal control through the procedural management of all crimes committed on the territory of our state? I really doubt it.

We will begin detailing Tatarov's influences with the work of the aforementioned Dmytro Verbytskyi. Interestingly, the latter is still considered the only deputy who is not connected to Tatarov due to inertia, preserving the image of Kostin's closest associate, who decides sensitive issues for the Prosecutor General, so that the boss always remains in "white gloves".

However, this information is already outdated. Verbytskyi became a trusted and very useful person for political leaders on Bankova (read — Tatarov. — O.L.) Street quite a long time ago. Deputy Kostin is responsible for the work of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, which will be fundamentally restarted "for outstanding success" in the fight against financial crimes. The relevant draft law has already been adopted in the Parliament of Ukraine.

Another "authorized" by Oleh Tatarov, Deputy Prosecutor General Ihor Mustetsa, was appointed to the post by Iryna Venedyktova. Evil tongues "lie" that Mustetsa was then a representative of the will of the so-called king of smuggling Illia Pavliuk. At one time, the latter even formed a list of candidates for People's Deputies during the parliamentary elections.

Mustetsa is responsible for the National Police of Ukraine, although this body is actually managed by Maksym Tsutskiridze. He, in turn, is Oleh Tatarov's best man. Therefore, it is not surprising that Musteca prefers the latter.

The third deputy of Kostin, who was associated with Tatarov, namely Anton Voytenko, was appointed in early 2023 and is responsible for the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI). There is no point in explaining anything additional about this institution, because the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI) has long been transformed into an instrument of (non)political influence of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

Everyone believes that the appointment of the first deputy of Andrii Kostin namely Oleksii Khomenko, was lobbied by another deputy of Andrii Yermak, who was Oleksii Kuleba. Although today, again, Khomenko is attributed to the sphere of influence of Oleh Tatarov. And they think so not without good reasons. Because, according to our information, Kuleba became a lobbyist solely at the request of Tatarov, who in this way tried to disguise his next person whom he can trust in the regiment of his deputies in the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

There are still deputies Oleksandr Klymenko, who heads the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office independent of the will of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and Viktoriya Litvinova, about the results of whose work we have never really heard.

It turns out that four out of six deputy prosecutors are not guided by the instructions of the head of the Office of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, but by the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. During his tenure, Kostin did not achieve any results or control over his subordinates. It can be said that he did not achieve anything at all. Is it necessary, according to society, to change Kostin, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, to a more independent person? Yes, it is worth doing. But from the point of view of political leaders on Bankova Street, it also needs to be changed. Because the will of the Office of the President of Ukraine must be carried out more thoroughly. How to form a more professional wrapper for the people, who should not have any doubts about the reputation of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. And if we talk about Kostin, in his case it does not last and disappears like shagreen skin. So, it is necessary to change the skin.

Who can replace Andrii Kostin?

The topic of replacing the Prosecutor General of Ukraine is like a kettle that is on the stove and is about to boil. Presumably, the temperature of the stove can be lowered a little this time (the issue of new candidates is not yet actively discussed among top political leaders), but the kettle will definitely not be removed from the stove. At some point, the cover will definitely be blown off.

Among the key candidates for the post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine, as before, Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, who is credited with total control over the grain corridor in the Odesa region, is named; Head of the Law Enforcement Committee of the Parliament of Ukraine Serhii Ionushas, ​​as well as Head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration Ruslan Kravchenko. Two of them, namely Kiper and Kravchenko, are former prosecutors.

As we have already written, Kiper is the main candidate. The current head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration and the former head of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, whose appointment to this position was lobbied by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak. And here we allow ourselves to repeat again:

"Kiper on Bankova Street is treated in a special way, he is not subject to the same rules as others. To confirm this thesis, it is enough to mention that for the same violation, namely going abroad during the war, Oleksii Symonenko was dismissed from the position of Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and Kiper was transferred to another position. Moreover, he even retained a place in the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine! How did it happen? Kiper mobilized and was seconded by presidential decree to lead the Odesa Regional Military Administration.

However, there are questions for Kiper. His family lives in Austria, where he also went during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. In addition, information about his wife's Russian passport appeared on the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, which was noticed by journalists of the "Scheme" investigative journalism program during the scandalous investigation about the Christmas vacation in Cyprus. Law enforcement agencies also have questions regarding the construction of fortifications in the Odesa region."

Ionushas distinguished himself only with interesting photos from the gym, which until recently he published with enviable stability on his Facebook page. In addition, he was distinguished by great "accomplishments" as the head of a specialized parliamentary committee of Ukraine, including the blocking of the law on the liquidation of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv and the "Lozovyi amendments".

However, there is one difficult procedural point. According to the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, both the dismissal of the current Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the appointment of a new one must be decided through a vote in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

As for Kravchenko, he worked as a prosecutor in the Bucha District Prosecutor's Office, was later awarded the Order of Merit III degree and moved to a completely different job, heading the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. Among the three candidates for Kravchenko's candidacy, there are significantly fewer negative moments. In addition to what is especially appropriate, there were allegedly no questions to him regarding the construction of fortifications. In the end, if they decide to elect him, Kravchenko will have to pass a test "for courage and determination" in the context of orientation when making decisions on the Law of Ukraine, and not on the will of political leaders on Bankova Street.

As of today, the layout with the availability of votes is unknown. But the only problem is that political leaders on Bankova Street after the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Kubrakov and the announced division of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine into two ministries, as well as the work of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine without a minister try to make the votes to be composed in such a way as to vote for all the changes in one package. But, as already mentioned above, the fate of Andrii Yevhenovych on Bankova Street was decided. All that remains is to determine who will "stand up from the bench of reserve candidates" named after Tatarov. Although, I suppose, not all the three aforementioned candidates chose Oleh Yuriyovych exclusively as a guide.

P.S. Accusatoris officium in posterum

Of course, if it is purely hypothetical to assume that the new Prosecutor General of Ukraine, who will replace Kostin, will be a professional leader, and not just a representative who can be easily controlled and will simply obey orders and do what he is told without asking extra questions, then in this case we should expect from him adequate and useful work for the country. The new Prosecutor General of Ukraine should meet a few criteria that are based on the ideas and principles specified in the relevant law.

In addition, in the case of setting up processes for real and systemic reform of all criminal justice bodies, the appointment of an independent Prosecutor General of Ukraine could become a prerequisite for improving relations with Western partners. As a result, conditionally, the tone and nature of the conversations of the same Antony Blinken and the President of Ukraine Zelenskyy will be completely different.

What's more, an independent and professional Prosecutor General of Ukraine is one of the short ways to increase the country's defense capability. After all, with the stolen money (property, funds, completely different types of assets), it would be possible to purchase much more various types of weapons, without constantly waiting for the next tranches from our partners, which are "slightly delayed". And in general, it could be a saving for foreign partners who are currently investing in various "boards of auditors".

However, "hypothetically" does not count. In fact, this is a text about why the resignation of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine is of interest only to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Who has come to terms with his resignation a long time ago and is only interested in future assignments. Unfortunately, in this case, we come to the same conclusion that applies to any personnel appointment in the state: this government is not capable of generating other quality personnel nominees. They will still perform the functions needed by political leaders on Bankova Street. And in this case, the office needs a prosecutor who can provide a "united window". Prosecutor General of Ukraine Kostin was unable to do this.

But political leaders on Bankova Street appreciate those who can do it. That is why they protect Tatarov. And Tatarov, in turn, protects the system. In the most disgusting sense.

Read this article in Ukrainian and russian.