Kropyva appointed to Prosecutor General’s Office after full vetting – Kravchenko
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko explained the circumstances of Serhii Kropyva’s appointment to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists, Censor.NET reports.
What is known?
"When I took office, we had a major staffing shortage at the Prosecutor General’s Office, regional offices (prosecutor’s offices – Ed.) and elsewhere. Every department had many vacant positions and was short of staff," he said.
Kravchenko therefore began looking for people with the experience needed to do the job.
"I invited people I had worked with in the Kyiv region, but they declined. I then began looking for people in other regions. I had not known Kropyva previously. I learned that a deputy responsible for international affairs was working at the Odesa Regional Administration. He was offered a position with us and said he was open to it," the prosecutor general continued.
Regional Military Administration head Kiper subsequently agreed to let Kropyva move to a position at the Prosecutor General’s Office.
"Kropyva was appointed after all checks had been completed," he added.
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) had no objections to the appointments, Kravchenko said.
"When I became prosecutor general, my approach to my staff was this: the team comes first, then me, because without the team I am nobody. That is how I treat every employee. Kropyva was not the only one who could come in, address me informally and ask for help. Any employee can do that.
I trusted Serhii; we were on good terms," he said.
Operation "Carthage"
- Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda, citing its own sources, reported that NABU and SAPO were allegedly conducting searches targeting Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko, and Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration (RMA) Oleh Kiper.
- On 4 September, NABU and SAPO reported the alleged "protection" by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) of a network of so-called call centers that defraud people.
- According to media reports, NABU and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the PGO’s Department of International Legal Cooperation.
- Before taking up his current position at the PGO, Kropyva served as deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration on Oleh Kiper’s team.
- Against this backdrop, NABU announced a new operation called "Carthage."
- The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that it would suspend the employee whose possible involvement in "protecting a network" of fraudulent call centers and laundering assets is being investigated.
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According to updated information, NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) uncovered a criminal organisation whose members systematically received bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered millions. The organiser of the scheme was identified as the head of one of the Prosecutor General’s Office divisions.
- Recordings of the criminal group of Prosecutor General’s Office employees were also released.
- The Prosecutor General’s Office later confirmed searches at the premises of Prosecutor General Kravchenko and his deputy.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pretrial restraint measure on Prosecutor General’s Office official Kropyva.
- On September 7, Ivakhnenko was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 20 million.
