Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Court Finally Elects Its Head

07 May 2019 17:05

Ukrainian judge Olena Tanasevych has been elected as the head of the newly—formed Anti—Corruption Court of Ukraine. 22 of the court's 38 judges supported her candidacy by electing her in an anonymous vote.

Ukrainian judge Olena Tanasevych has been elected as the head of the newly formed Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine. 22 of the court's 38 judges supported her candidacy by electing her in an anonymous vote.

The newly-elected Head of the Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine Olena Tanasevych was born in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. Photo: Vasyl Pekhnyo / Hromadske

Kharkiv-born Tanasevych previously worked as a judge in the Pechenihy district court in the Kharkiv region. She was sworn in as a judge in 2012. The 37-year-old is married to an entrepreneur who heads a renewable energy company.

The establishment of an anti-corruption court in Ukraine was one of the key requirements from the country's international partners in order to continue cooperation. One of the court's core functions is investigating the National Anti-Corruption Bureau's cases regarding high-profile corruption. Other functions include increasing gas prices for the nation and balancing out the state budget. The court is expected to start working on September 5.

The "main task" of the newly elected head, according to the Anti-Corruption Court's interim head Oleh Pavlyshyn, will be ensuring a quick launch for the court. During the election on May 7, the judges failed to elect the head twice with no clear voting majority. Tanasevych won the majority of the votes during the third attempt at voting. Previously she received the highest amount of points during the competition process -- 792 out of 1000.

Civic movement Chesno could not find any compromising information about Tanasevych.