NGOs, media urge prosecutor general to cancel Shevchuk's role in SAPO selection
Representatives of public organizations demand that Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko cancel the order on including lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk in the Competition Commission, which will select candidates for vacant administrative positions in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) has said. .
"We, representatives of public organizations and the public, who have signed below, appeal to the Prosecutor General in connection with the decision to include lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk in the Competition Commission, which will select candidates for vacant administrative positions in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (hereinafter referred to as the Commission)," the statement on the AntAC website says.
The statement emphasizes that the National Bar Association of Ukraine reported that Order No. 405 of December 23, 2025 determined the composition of the Competition Commission, to which Shevchuk was included by direct decision of the Prosecutor General. Therefore, a number of public organizations and figures have already called on the Prosecutor General to cancel the order on his appointment to the commission, but he has not yet responded to any of the public appeals.
Media workers listed a number of "publicly known facts that cast reasonable doubt" on Shevchuk's compliance with the requirements of the law for a member of the Competition Commission. These include the following:
- Shevchuk appeared in journalistic investigations into the transfer of more than 200 men of draft age abroad due to abuse of the "Shlyakh" system, after which the National Police initiated criminal proceedings;
- he was repeatedly deprived of his rights and suspended from practicing law for gross violations of ethics, in particular for publicly insulting colleagues and veterans;
- Shevchuk's support for the "dictatorial laws of January 16" and hosting an author's program on a channel associated with Viktor Medvedchuk, which indicates his dishonest public reputation and media and political background, the statement emphasizes;
- the ethics council in 2023 officially established Shevchuk's non-compliance with the criteria of professional ethics and integrity.
"Competitive procedures for selecting the leadership of the SAPO must be not only formally legal, but also indisputably legitimate in the eyes of society and international partners of Ukraine. Including in the competition commission a person with the above-mentioned reputational and disciplinary circumstances creates risks of discrediting the competition commission itself and its decisions, reducing trust in the procedure for selecting the leadership of the SAPO, as well as weakening the capacity of the SAPO as a key institution of the anti-corruption system," the statement emphasized.
The signatories demand that the Prosecutor General bring the composition of the competition commission into line with the requirements of the law "On the Prosecutor's Office," ensuring unconditional compliance with the criterion of integrity, impeccable business reputation and public authority of its members.
In addition, to cancel the order in part of appointing Shevchuk as a member of the competition commission and determine a replacement that will meet the requirements of the law.
"We believe that an urgent response to this situation is necessary to maintain trust in competitive procedures, protect the independence of the SAPO and ensure the proper functioning of the anti-corruption infrastructure of Ukraine," the signatories summarized.
As reported, the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine justifies the appointment of lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk as a member of the Competition Commission for the competition for administrative positions in the SAPO as the only candidate from among the persons who participated in the selection and met the requirements of the law after one of the three participants refused to work in the competition commission.
After Shevchuk was appointed as a member of the competition commission, which is to select the deputy head of the SAPO, he stated about a "wave of information attacks, slander and provocations" against him from a number of activists, which he attributed to the fact that he was a lawyer for Ilia Kyva during the period when he held the position of head of the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was responsible for countering the circulation of narcotic drugs.