Zelenskyy on newly appointed Prosecutor General: "Honest man and experienced professional"

ALONA MAZURENKO – WEDNESDAY, 27 JULY 2022, 23:25

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Andrii Kostin, the newly appointed Prosecutor General, is "an honest man and an experienced professional," who is capable of taking a systematic approach in his work.

Source: President Zelenskyy’s video address

Quote: "The Verkhovna Rada [the Ukrainian parliament - ed.] has agreed to appoint Andrii Kostin as the new Prosecutor General. He is an honest man and an experienced professional, capable of taking a systematic approach in his work.

[Ukrainian] society considers ensuring that Russia is held accountable for the war to be one of his top priorities."

Details: Zelenskyy elaborated that the Prosecutor General has to work together with the International Criminal Court and with those partner countries that are helping to establish the identities of the Russian culprits. His other responsibilities will include recording the crimes committed by Russian occupying forces and compiling evidence that will ensure that each and every war criminal will be held accountable.

President Zelenskyy said that the Office of the Prosecutor General is one of the key institutions designed to ensure that "all Russian murderers and torturers will be held accountable for the crimes committed against the Ukrainian people."

Earlier: On 27 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested that the Verkhovna Rada approve the appointment of the Andrii Kostin, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the Sluha Narodu [Servant of the People, President Zelenskyy’s political party - ed.] party, as Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada approved the appointment on the same day.

On 26 July, the US urged Ukraine to appoint a trustworthy Prosecutor General and to ensure anti-corruption measures are in place even during the war.

On 17 March 2020, when President Zelenskyy introduced Iryna Venediktova – who joined his team even before he was elected as President of Ukraine – to the Verkhovna Rada, he said that she would be the first woman to become the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Venediktova promised to "not sell or leak cases" and instead to "restore the powerful state institution" of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Verkhovna Rada fired Venediktova on 19 July 2022.

Background: Andrii Kostin is a lawyer and in 2019 became an elected member of parliament from the Sluha Narodu [Servant of the People] party. He headed the committee on legal policy in the Ukrainian parliament.

Kostin was being considered for the position of the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, but civil society organisations deemed his reputation dubious.

In Verkhovna Rada, he was responsible for judicial reform – though it was precisely under his leadership that the judicial reform kept being blocked and the necessary legislative changes and proposals were distorted.

Experts have pointed out that Kostin has not declared the revenue from selling apartments in Odesa, though he did declare he and his wife’s stake in the Pravo Legal Firm.

In addition, journalists from the Skhemy investigative publication have found out that Kostin’s wife and daughter are employed as aides to other members of parliament and that Kostin himself has helped his colleagues’ relatives to acquire jobs.