Courtesy of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Ukrainian Lawmakers Approve Country's First Female Prosecutor-General
KYIV -- Ukrainian lawmakers have approved Iryna Venedyktova as the country's first female prosecutor-general.
On March 17, the country's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved Venedyktova for the post after she was nominated by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Venedyktova, a former deputy who is currently the acting director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), has promised to beef-up reforms at what she called a "powerful institution."
Venedyktova, 41, a member of Zelenskiy's ruling Servant of the People party, was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary elections.
Venedyktova is said to have clashed with her predecessor, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, over a case the SBI was investigating against a Zelenskiy foe, ex-President Petro Poroshenko.
She has also been at odds with local media.
Last week she filed a lawsuit against Ukrayinska Pravda for republishing an article by the Anti-Corruption Action Centre that alleged her husband was influencing personnel policy at the SBI.
Ryaboshapka left the post after lawmakers passed a no-confidence vote in him on March 5.
Latest from our news desk on Venedyktova:
Ukrainian Investigative Director Who Clashed With Activists Approved As Prosecutor-General
KYIV – Lawmakers have approved Iryna Venedyktova, a top investigative official who has clashed with reporters and civil society activists, to be Ukraine’s new prosecutor-general.
The March 17 vote by the Verkhovna Rada was the latest in a series of top-level government personnel changes by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Some of Zelenskiy's moves have worried civil society activists, who fear he is backsliding on reforms and reverting to policies that have hobbled Ukraine for years.
Venedyktova, 41, is the first woman to head Ukraine’s top prosecutorial office.
She’s currently the acting director of State Bureau of Investigations, a corruption-fighting agency that lawmakers voted to revamp in December after the bureau’s then-director was forced out amid questions of conflict of interest.
Earlier this month, Venedyktova sued the newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda for republishing an article by the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a nongovernmental organization, that alleged her husband was influencing personnel policy at the State Bureau.
As prosecutor-general, Venedyktova replaces Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who was nominated to the position by Zelenskiy.
Ryaboshapka was well-regarded by anti-corruption activists for his efforts to streamline and professionalize the scandal-ridden prosecutor-general’s office. He was forced out in a no-confidence vote on March 5.
Venedyktova reportedly clashed with her Ryaboshapka over an investigation the State Bureau was conducting into Zelenskiy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko.
Zelenskiy’s shake-up of the government, which included his sacking of his prime minister, worried not only civil society activists, but also Western financial backers.
Kyiv has been negotiating a long-delayed $5.5 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund, which is seen as crucial to economic stability and investor confidence.
Public trust in Zelenskiy has slid sharply since his landslide election in April 2019. His trust ratings have dropped to around 50 percent last month from 80 percent in September, according to the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center.