Head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Yuriy Lutsenko has asked the president to increase the number of judges in Ukraine's regional centers so that before the creation and functioning of an anti-corruption court there will be an opportunity to try criminal corruption cases.

"We are convinced that a High Anti-corruption Court will be created by constitutional means by the High Council of Justice after conducting the relevant competitions and interviews with non-governmental organizations," Lutsenko said on Tuesday during a briefing in Kharkiv.

The PGO chief said he is convinced an anti-corruption court should be formed not only in Kyiv and not only for cases investigated by the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

"All 4,000 cases involving criminal corruption which are in the courts today must be reviewed by the anti-corruption court," Lutsenko said, adding that the anti-corruption court should be created in each region. He said the appeals court should be created in Kyiv and a chamber of the Supreme Court should perform the appeals function.

"This process obviously will take a year to a year and a half… We don't have time to wait to create these institutions. We must increase the number of new judges, who can hear these 4,000 corruption cases," Lutsenko said.

"I have appealed to the president over the past several days to exercise his constitutional authority by year's end and increase the number of judges in all regional center courts in order to accelerate adjudication of corruption cases," Lutsenko said.