"They dragged three into final": SAPO prosecutor stated in court that Stefanishyna influenced competition to elect NACP chairman
During the hearing to determine a pretrial measure for former Deputy Prime Minister and former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Olga Stefanishyna, a prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) stated that she likely influenced the selection process for the head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK) through members of the selection committee who were under the government’s control.
This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Center, according to Censor.NET.
Direct Instructions for the Commission
In the courtroom, the prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) read aloud the correspondence between Stefanishyna and the head of her agency—Oleksandr Bukhanevych—in which they coordinated among themselves the Ukrainian members of the commission for the competition to appoint the head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK).
As the CPC notes, Bukhanevych, in particular, asked Stefanishyna about the instructions for the selection committee.
Bukhanevych: "Good afternoon. The first meeting of the NACP commission is today at 4:00 p.m. I’d like to hear your instructions, suggestions, and advice before the first meeting—so I can be helpful and not let you down. I think they’ll be electing a commission chair—who should I support?"
Bukhanevych then sent Stefanishyna the following message: "I'd like to discuss the NACP competition—when would be a good time to call?"
To this, Stefanyishyna replied: "Gupyak" (Serhii Hupyak, the current deputy head of the NACP, who previously worked at the State Bureau of Investigation—Ed.).
Furthermore, according to evidence presented by NABU and the SAPO, Stefanyishyna and Bukhanevych had agreed on the candidates in advance.
In particular, Stefanishyna posted a message containing a list of candidates:
Stefanyishyna: "Pavlushchyk (current head of the NACP, — ed.), Stepanyan (head of a department at the Ministry of Defense, — ed.), Hatselyuk (member of the High Council of Justice, — ed.), Gupyak (current deputy head of the NACP, former employee of the State Bureau of Investigation—Ed.)."
Stefanishyna: "Gupyak is a priority."
Bukhanevych: "Understood."
Manual Score Adjustment
Stefanyishyna also forwarded a message to Bukhanevych regarding a competition at the NAZK from an unidentified person:
"It was Ivanovska who started reviewing the NACP's findings. Some of the assessments don’t fit into our scheme… Skomarov (head of the NABU detective unit—ed.) clearly shouldn’t be given 30 points." "He should generally try to give as few points as possible, because he’s already close to the maximum".
In response, the person she was speaking with forwarded her a message from a member of the commission:
"I know that—it was before you called. I was just grading a really great essay of his last night. Sorry. I gave the 'red' one a low grade. Yuriychuk and Skomarov are 'yellow'… What should I do now? Should I ask if I can regrade it? I'll get caught. Should I ask?"
They also went on to discuss that, according to the international experts on the commission, the "candidate is under suspicion":
Bukhanevich sends Stefanyishyna the following message: "The final list of those admitted to the finals will be released on Tuesday, but judging by the reaction of the international members of the committee, he said… he said that this candidate is in question. Andriy (presumably Andriy Kozlov, a selection committee member representing the donor—ed.) will convince him, and since they’re all from the donors, their votes outweigh ours."
In addition, the correspondence mentioned that one of the candidates—Hatselyuk—was about to be eliminated, but a member of the selection committee (presumably Alla Ivanovskaya, — Ed.) noted:
"Natalkia and I (Natalia Onishchenko, another member of the commission—Ed.) are doing everything we can to make the case that it should be approved."
The prosecutor then read aloud a forwarded message from Ivanovskaya, a member of the selection committee, which included previous correspondence and messages: "But Pavlushchik is doing a great job."
After that, Stefanyishyna sent a message instructing that there be no open discussion of the candidates:
"Regarding the competition, it is very important to note that Onishchenko and Alla (presumably Natalia Onishchenko and Alla Ivanovskaya, members of the commission appointed under the government quota—Ed.) did not support an open discussion of the candidates for the purpose of selecting them for the final interview. Because this proposal is very harmful."
However, as the CPC notes, they were prepared to "fight to the bitter end" to prevent an open discussion.
In addition, they were happy that they had managed to get three of their preferred candidates into the finals: "Wow, we got three into the finals—it wasn't easy."
Members of the selection committee also agreed on the questions to ask the candidates during the interviews. In addition, Bukhanevich noted that Pavlushchik had the best chance of being selected.
Suspicions Against Stefanishyna
As a reminder, on August 5, anti-corruption authorities announced that they had placed Olha Stefanishyna, the former Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and former Ambassador to the United States, under investigation.
The prosecution is demanding a bail of 13 million 100 thousand hryvnias as a pretrial measure for Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the United States, who is suspected of illicit enrichment.
It has since become known that the hearing to determine a pretrial measure for former Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna, who is suspected of illicit enrichment, has been postponed until Thursday, August 6.
Stefanishyna's Possible Involvement in Corruption
- As a reminder, journalists from "UP" previously published an investigation stating that people in Olha Stefanishyna’s inner circle were granted management rights to four large real estate properties through ARMA. Among these properties is, in particular, the Trade Union Building on Independence Square.
- The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal investigation to examine Stefanishyna's involvement in possible corruption at ARMA.
