Zelenskyy says he also met heads of anti-corruption agencies to discuss dismissal of prosecutor general

Iryna Balachuk - 8 September, 14:12

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NABU head Semen Kryvonos and SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko. Stock photo: Zelenskyy on Telegram

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that, in addition to Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, he also met with the heads of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) on 7 September.

Source: Zelenskyy answering journalists' questions online

Quote: "Yesterday [7 September – ed.], I devoted the day specifically to personnel matters… I met with the heads of NABU and SAPO and the prosecutor general… I am sure you understand what we discussed. I had a fairly long meeting with the prosecutor general; he submitted the relevant resignation letter, and the submission will be sent to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament)."

Details: Zelenskyy added that he met with Oleksandr Poklad, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Oleh Ivashchenko, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, and Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President's Office, on 7 September.

"I think everyone understands the details and why I met with them," Zelenskyy said, adding that there were "relevant decisions" following his conversation with Poklad.

Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Zelenskyy met Kravchenko and Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, on 7 September. This came amid an investigation by NABU and SAPO into the "protection" of scam call centres, in which Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the International Legal Cooperation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, is one of the suspects.

Following the meeting, Kravchenko announced that he had submitted his resignation as prosecutor general.

Background:

On 4 September, Ukrainska Pravda reported that NABU and SAPO were conducting searches at the premises of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko and Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration.
On 5 September, the Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed that NABU detectives had carried out searches at offices used by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his first deputy Mariia Vdovychenko and other staff from the Prosecutor General's Office at around midnight.
On 5 September, NABU and SAPO announced that they had uncovered a criminal organisation which investigators said was headed by the head of a department at the Prosecutor General's Office. Members of the organisation are suspected of regularly taking bribes from scam call centres and money laundering. Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that the department head in question is Serhii Kropyva.
On 6 September, Kropyva was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 120 million (US$2.7 million).
On 7 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pre-trial restriction on 24-year-old Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko, a suspect in NABU's Operation Carthage investigation into the alleged protection of scam call centres, ordering 60 days' detention with bail set at UAH 20 million (US$450,000).
Serhii Kropyva's driver, Serhii Kutsyi, has also been remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 3 million (US$67,500).

Subscribe on Patreon to back our journalism long-term.