Head of commission for election of NABU director: No pressure on commission, we to submit three candidates for Cabinet approval by spring
Head of the competition commission for the post of director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) Mykola Kucheriavenko hopes that by spring the commission will submit three candidates for the post of NABU director for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, while the competition itself is transparent and without any pressure.
In a comment to Interfax-Ukraine before the stage of testing candidates in Kyiv on Thursday, Kucheriavenko said the law does not provide for clear time limits for the competition.
"In any case, we are trying not to drag out the competitive process, and it seems to me that we have succeeded so far, although not everything depends on us. In my opinion, two to two and a half months should be enough for us, if there are no circumstances that will make adjustments," he said.
In particular, according to Kucheriavenko, the extension of the deadline for submitting documents was due to objective factors – problems with electricity and the Internet.
Speaking about the stages of the competition, the head of the commission said the first stage was the analysis of the documents of candidates, on December 29 the second stage started, testing, to which 74 candidates were admitted. The next step, according to him, will be testing for general abilities, after - a practical task, and then – two interviews, for integrity and competence.
Answering a question about whether there is any pressure on him as the head of the commission, Kucheriavenko said: "Definitely not. There was not a single call from the President's Office, the Cabinet of Ministers or the Verkhovna Rada."
He said the commission takes into account the experience of previous commissions, including the negative experience of the commission on the election of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
Kucheriavenko said the competition is open and transparent. "So far, it seems to me, there have been no moments that could be used as claims against the commission," he also said.
Speaking about when exactly he expects the commission to determine three candidates, the head of the commission said: "Our task is to recommend three candidates to the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Cabinet of Ministers will already appoint the director of NABU... We would like us to put an end to the competition in March."
