Zelenskyy submits proposal to appoint new PG to Verkhovna Rada. Who is Andriy Kostin?

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has submitted to the parliament a draft resolution on the appointment of MP Andriy Kostin to the post of Prosecutor General, according to the website of the legislature.

The accompanying documents state that Fedir Venislavskyi, the representative of the President of Ukraine in the Constitutional Court, will present this submission at the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada.

In 2019, Kostin was elected as a People's Deputy of the 9th convocation from the Servant of the People party, number 108 on the list as a non-party member. Until January 14, 2020, he was the deputy chairman of the Committee on Legal Policy, after which he headed the body.

As indicated on the Servant of the People website, Kostin was born on April 17, 1973 in Odesa. He graduated from Odesa Mechnykov National University, majoring in "law". He is a lawyer, director of Pravo Law Firm.

Kostin is also the deputy chairman of the Odesa Oblast Bar Council and the deputy chairman of the presidium of the Odesa Oblast Bar Association.

He worked in various law firms and other organizations and made his way from a lawyer to a company manager. He is a member of the board of the public organization Odesa Diplomatic Club.

According to the public movement CHESNO, in 2019-2020 Andriy Kostin did not declare any place of residence in Kyiv, although, according to the website of the Verkhovna Rada, he received budget compensation for renting housing or renting a hotel room in the amount of approximately 20 thousand hryvnias ($543) per month.

It is also noted there that in 2021, Kostin participated in the competition for the position of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, but did not pass the interview.

CHESNO also writes that Kostin, as the head of the committee on legal policy, is responsible in the parliament for judicial reform. However, it was during his leadership of the committee that proper judicial reform was blocked, and necessary legislative changes and proposals were distorted.

"In particular, the process of restarting the High Qualification Commission of Judges has stopped, which is why Ukraine already lacks approximately 2,000 judges. Instead of restarting the High Council of Justice, its strengthening began. And the parliament continues to appoint Constitutional Court judges without the implementation of a transparent competition," CHESNO notes.

Background

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suspended Iryna Venediktova from the duties of the Prosecutor General on July 17. Two days later, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed her from her post. David Arakhamia announced that Venediktova could get a new seat on the diplomatic front.

In addition to her, Zelenskyy removed the head of the Security Service, Ivan Bakanov. The head of state motivated the decision to suspend them with a large number of criminal cases of treason and collaboration among law enforcement officers, which "raises serious questions for the leaders."

Oleksiy Symonenko, who had held the position of Deputy Prosecutor General since March 2020, is temporarily performing the duties of the Prosecutor General.