Ukraine deputy prosecutor announces more steps in corruption fight

For the first time in Ukraine, an open competition for 700 positions of local prosecutors and their deputies will be launched on July 15, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine David Sakvarelidze told a July 8 meeting with the president and law enforcement authorities, reported pravda.com.ua. Lawyers with some work experience will be able to compete, he said. Parliament’s July 2 approval of a new prosecutor general law has enabled shrinking the number of district prosecutors to 700, Sakvarelidze said.

The same day, Sakvarelidze complained about the bail set for two Ukrainian deputy prosecutors and a third civilian arrested as part of a sting operation was set exceedingly low. “Today corrupt officials were again offered the possibility to be released on vail in exchange for a small part oftheir stolen assets,” he wrote on his Facebook page.  A July 5 sting operation led to the arrest of a deputy prosecutor in charge of investigations and a Kyiv regional deputy prosecutor after they reportedly demanded a bribe. About USD 500,000 worth of cash was confiscated, among other items.

Zenon Zawada: The Georgian reformers are making a real difference in Ukraine. Mihkeil Saakashvili is aggressively tackling corruption in the Odesa region, Eka Zguladze launched Kyiv’s new traffic police this week and Sakvarelidze is cleaning up the nation’s prosecution. Unfortunately, Alexander Kvitashvili apparently wasn’t very successful as health minister, reportedly submitting his resignation last week.

Of course, a big concern is whether the newly appointed local prosecutors will be effective if the Kyiv leadership remains corrupt. Yet the sting operation, led by Sakvarelidze, indicates that efforts are being made to address corruption at the highest echelons of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which offers optimism.

Sakvarelidze’s complaint about the low posted bails confirms the resistance within the Ukrainian bureaucracy to reform efforts, particularly those being conducted by outsiders to the system. As we’ve seen in recent months, this resistance is being played out in various ways, whether in the form of counteraccusations of those accused arrested or dismissed; or pulling strings in the system to avoid arrest (enabling flight), get criminal adjusted or in this case, having bail set comfortably low. 

The strategy of bringing in professionals who are utterly foreign to Ukraine’s intricate network of corrupt loyalties and alliances is working well. We will have hope in the fight against corruption for as long as these foreign professionals, as well as professional Ukrainians who are utterly alien to the system, are working in the Cabinet of Ministers.