Media: Zelensky administration submits candidacy of Andriy Kostin for new general prosecutor

Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its sources in the presidential administration and President Zelensky's ruling Servant of the People Party, that the administration may submit to Ukraine's parliament the candidacy of lawmaker Andriy Kostin, member of the 245-member Servant of the People faction, for the position of general prosecutor.

The previous prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, was fired on July 19.

"There is a 99% possibility that Andriy Kostin's candidacy will be submitted for consideration by the parliament for the position of General Prosecutor in the near future," Ukrainska Pravda's unnamed source told the news outlet.

Mykhailo Zhernakov, chair of the board of the Dejure foundation, a civic organization focused on judicial reforms in Ukraine, said that the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, will consider Kostin's candidacy on July 27, although an official announcement has not been made on the parliament's website.

Kostin is a lawyer who in 2010 was elected to the Odesa City Council from the Front of Changes Party. In 2019 he became a lawmaker of the Verkhovna Rada from the Servant of the People Party.

In 2021, Kostin sought to become Ukraine's chief anti-corruption prosecutor but his candidacy was vetoed by Western experts for violating the principle of political neutrality.