European Commission on resignation of Prosecutor General Kravchenko: EU maintains zero-tolerance policy towards corruption

Ruslan Kravchenko, Prosecutor General of Ukraine

The European Commission has commented on the resignation of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko against the backdrop of the NABU special operation ‘Carthage’ into the ‘protection’ of fraudulent call centres.

The European Commission informed Suspilne of this, according to Censor.NET.

Reaction within the EU

"As you are aware, we do not comment on individual cases. Let us make this clear: the EU maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. We wish to emphasise that the fight against corruption is a key requirement for any country seeking to join the European Union", the European Commission stated.

The EU has emphasised that this requires ongoing efforts to ensure effective prevention, investigation and prosecution, as well as respect for the rule of law.

The European Commission added that the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies – namely the NABU and the SAPO – must be safeguarded.

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 Military 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.
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.
On September 7, HACC also remanded Serhii Kutsyi, the driver of Prosecutor General’s Office official Serhii Kropyva, in custody with bail set at UAH 3 million.