Who does the new acting Prosecutor General Kovalskyi represent? Journalists named possible patrons

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 17 appointed Anton Kovalskyi as acting Prosecutor General of Ukraine in September. The influential Chernivtsi businessman Illia Pavliuk may have been involved in that personnel decision. This is reported in the Hromadske article “The new acting Prosecutor General – Anton Kovalskyi. Dossier, connections and the mystery of the appointment.”

Hromadske’s sources in the prosecutor’s office explained that the personnel decision may be connected to the influential Chernivtsi businessman Illia Pavliuk. Earlier media named him as one of the leaders of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s central campaign headquarters during the elections in 2019. Pavliuk is also credited with controlling a small group of People’s Deputies from the Servant of the People party.

In addition, in an interview with Hromadske one of the former Prosecutor Generals noted that Illia Pavliuk is a friend of Deputy Prosecutor General in the 2020–2025 years Ihor Mustets. Mustets is also originally from Chernivtsi. It was with his arrival at the Prosecutor General’s Office that Kovalskyi’s career sharply accelerated – in September 2020 he became deputy head of the Vinnytsia regional prosecutor’s office. Later he took the chair of the regional prosecutor in Chernivtsi.

Hromadske emphasizes that in 2020 Kovalskyi’s career peak was the department supervising compliance with laws by fiscal authorities, and later a directorate in the Vinnytsia region prosecutor’s office.

Recall that in 17 September President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy placed the duties of Prosecutor General on Anton Kovalskyi. Over his years of work Kovalskyi has held various positions – from senior investigator and prosecutor to leadership roles in the Vinnytsia region prosecutor’s office.