Zelenskyy May Have Offered Klimenko the Prosecutor General Post — Anti-Corruption Center

Kalenyuk explained why his potential move to the Office of the Prosecutor General could turn out to be a dangerous trap.

Executive director of the Anti-Corruption Center Darya Kalenyuk spoke about rumors that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered the office of prosecutor general, previously held by Ruslan Kravchenko, to SAP head Oleksandr Klimenko. According to her, it sounds impressive, because this is a person who has gained trust after the "Forrest Gump," "Midas," and other anti-corruption investigations.

"He will probably have some freedom there to do the right things. But then Klimenko leaves the SAP. A deputy is chosen, there is no deputy yet, — Kalenyuk explained how this story could turn out. — And then, without Klimenko's powers, they install ‘their people’ and after a few weeks or months they dismiss him."

She is confident that the Verkhovna Rada will gather the votes to remove him, as occurred in the case of former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

"They will try to play this trick now. I hope Oleksandr Klimenko will not fall for it," she concluded.

Remember, 17 September Zelenskyy placed Anton Kovalskyi, head of the Khmelnytskyi regional prosecutor's office, in charge as acting prosecutor general. Sources at ZN.UA link him to influential Chernivtsi businessman Illia Pavliuk, the informal curator of the so‑called "Pavliuk group" within the Servant of the People faction.

Meanwhile, anti-corruption activists are calling for a change in the format for appointing the head of the Office of the Prosecutor General to neutralize manual control over this institution. Currently the prosecutor general is chosen like this: the president personally selects a candidate, submits them for a vote in the Verkhovna Rada, and deputies vote "for" or "against," after which the head of state signs the appointment decree. If for some reason the candidate does not receive the required 226 votes, they are still appointed to the position but in an acting capacity. The anti-corruption bloc proposes introducing a different format; however, there is no single consensus among experts on an alternative. Main options include an open competition with an independent commission that would include international experts, as well as involving a third party in the procedure, for example the Ethics Council or EU representatives.

Read about whether the president will seize the chance not just to appoint another "his" prosecutor general but to change the system itself — through a transparent competition and a reform of the prosecutor’s office — in the article by ZN.UA's domestic policy editor Inna Vedernikova, "The Fugitive Syndrome. How Not to Turn the State into a Meme."