Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk has said that productive work with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) can be possible despite the current conflict situation between the two anti-corruption agencies.

He told journalists in Kyiv on Sunday, September 23, that he and the SAPO chief had sent a statement to the police on the opening of criminal proceedings due to the conflict on September 19. He expressed hope for an objective investigation.

"The anti-corruption bureau also appointed an official investigation in connection with this incident, and we will forward the materials of this investigation so that they were taken into account during the investigation," Sytnyk added.

According to him, NABU employees were not handed a notice of suspicion.

"The investigator determines the grounds for serving a notice of suspicion," Sytnyk said.

Speaking about the situation, Sytnyk said that the cause of the conflict was "primarily the unlawful actions of the employees of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the employees of the State Guard Department who unlawfully blocked the movement of NABU employees performing their official duties."

When asked if there is a direct conflict between him and the SAPO head, Nazar Kholodnytsky, Sytnyk said: "I do not have the feeling that there is a conflict, because then you can call a conflict any suspicions that are presented in those cases that we are investigating [...] this is the fulfilment of our work. If there is information about illegal actions by someone, we take measures provided by law and record an offense."

When asked whether productive cooperation between SAPO and NABU is possible after the incident, Sytnyk said: "Cooperation is ongoing [...] In general, work is underway and now cases are being transferred to court [...] I hope that cooperation will continue. We in turn are ready for that. We are doing all to ensure that cases are moving forward."