The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has explained that the data obtained as a result of the undercover investigative actions, which were authorized by the court, give reason to assume that there might be grounds in the actions of Head of Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), Deputy Prosecutor General Nazar Kholodnytsky for bringing him to criminal and disciplinary liability.

NABU confirmed that detectives of the NABU, as part of a joint group with the investigators of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO), for a certain period of time indeed have carried out investigative actions in the framework of a criminal proceeding registered by the PGO on alleged offenses by the SAPO head, according to a Friday posting on the NABU' website.

The bureau said that the issue of bringing the SAPO head to criminal responsibility falls within competence of the PGO as a body of pretrial investigation in the said criminal proceeding.

Regarding the possibility of disciplinary offenses in the actions by the chief anti-corruption prosecutor, NABU Director Artem Sytnyk sent a complaint to the Qualification Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors on March 30, 2018.

"The revealed signs of potential disciplinary misconduct and violations by the SAPO head in no way characterize the work of the body headed by him. Therefore, we emphasize that the situation surrounding the SAPO head does not stop the cooperation between detectives and procedural heads in criminal proceedings that are being investigated by NABU," NABU said, remindingthat currently NABU detectives are investigating around 500 cases, procedural guidance in which is carried out by the SAPO prosecutors.

The bureau assured that the actions of NABU in this situation were legal and justified, and that they were aimed at protecting the legitimate interests of society.