The European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine has drawn attention to a number of serious comments about some candidates for senior positions in the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

"These allegations have been voiced by representatives of the civil society and mass media, amid the ongoing process of selection in the commission responsible for selecting the top management of SBI. The allegations pertain to serious violations of human rights reportedly committed by some of the candidates, as well as concerns over possible corruption offences and their integrity risks," the EU Delegation to Ukraine's press service said on Wednesday, July 18.

EUAM noted that personnel selected for SBI should be individuals of the highest professional and moral standing.

"This is key to building the public trust of the SBI: as any new law enforcement agency, it has still to earn confidence of the citizens of Ukraine," the press service said.

EUAM is currently observing the selection of the SBI personnel limited to the selection administered by the two internal selection commissions of SBI.

"Our involvement does not cover the selection administered by the external commission, according to an agreement with the SBI regarding the selection observation," the EU Delegation said.

SBI Director Roman Truba, in turn, said that he would decide on appointing persons to SBI posts after checking the credentials of competition winners.

"We carefully followed the competitive selection, but did not have the authority to intervene, to check the information. This possibility was with the external commission during the interviews. With the completion of the competition, the SBI has the right to check every winner, moreover - it is our duty," the SBI's press service quoted Truba as saying on Wednesday.

He noted that in the course of the competition there have been numerous statements of public organizations on the disobedience of certain candidates.

"This does not mean that we unanimously agree with someone's conclusions. Today, any information can be placed on the Internet. It may or may not be true, but we have an obligation to check it, especially if we're talking about who will be in charge of SBI divisions making a good salary," Truba said.