Zelenskyy appoints 16 anti-corruption judges to unlock EU funding

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed 11 judges to the High Anti-Corruption Court and five judges to its Appeals Chamber, a step required for Ukraine to receive €250-300 million from the EU under the Ukraine Facility programme.

Source: presidential decrees on the appointments, posted on the president's website on the evening of 21 August, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Under Decree No. 782/2026, Viktor Antypenko, Oksana Hutsal, Yevhen Didenko, Oleksandr Dudchenko, Vitalii Koriahin, Vladyslav Kukhta, Mykola Pika, Lesia Skreklia, Iryna Teslenko, Oleh Khamkhodera and Marta-Mariia Yatsynina were appointed to the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Under Decree No. 783/2026, Nataliia Doroshenko, Mykola Rubashchenko, Inna Smal, Olena Tanashevych and Ihor Chaikin were appointed to the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Bohdan Kryklyvenko, Chief of the Staff of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, explained in comments to European Pravda that 16 of the 17 selected judges had so far been appointed because the submission for the remaining candidate had been made later.

"One more [judge] completed all the procedures and was submitted to the President's Office only on 19 August, so there was not enough time [to prepare the decree]. We believe it will happen soon," he said.

Two other sitting first-instance judges have successfully passed the selection process for the High Anti-Corruption Court's Appeals Chamber, but they are currently completing cases they are already handling at the anti-corruption court. They have therefore not been appointed yet, so that their cases do not have to be reheard.

According to Kryklyvenko, three more judges are currently undergoing selection by the High Qualification Commission of Judges.

Kryklyvenko congratulated the newly appointed judges and the sitting judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court and its Appeals Chamber, on a significant and long-awaited increase in the number of judges.

Background:

• European Pravda previously reported that Ukraine had until approximately 17 September to meet the Ukraine Facility requirement on appointing anti-corruption judges in order not to lose €250-300 million in EU funding.
• European Pravda highlighted the unjustifiably long delay, which had continued since July and called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign the decrees as soon as possible.
• The progress in selecting the remaining judges means Ukraine can expect to receive the full €300 million.

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