Prosecutor General dismisses his scandalous deputy Verbytskyi
1 July 2024 14:21
On 1 July, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin dismissed his deputy, Dmytro Verbytskyi. The day before, he was caught up in a scandal involving the misappropriation of property worth more than UAH 50 million. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
“On 01.07.2024, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin signed an order to dismiss Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi from the administrative position of his own free will,”
– the statement said.
Earlier it became known that the duties of the Deputy Prosecutor General, which Verbytskyi had been performing, were temporarily assigned to other deputies.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin explained that his deputy, Dmytro Verbytskyi, could not be removed from his duties during an internal investigation into possible enrichment.
Dmytro Verbytskyi was appointed Deputy Prosecutor General in September 2022. He was responsible for issues related to combating economic crimes, tax evasion and investment protection.
Last week, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin ignored a summons from members of the Ukrainian parliament to the Verkhovna Rada. He was summoned to report on the assets of his deputy, Dmytro Verbytskyi, who was found to have allegedly enriched himself illegally by the Skhemy investigators. In order to avoid reporting on this topic to the parliamentarians, Kostin referred to the lack of conclusions of the internal investigation into Verbytskyi, as well as to the NAPC and NABU checks. At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada argues that under any circumstances Kostin had no right to ignore the summons.
Following the journalists’ investigation, an internal investigation was launched against Verbytskyi, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is conducting a check on Verbytskyi’s lifestyle, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau has opened a criminal investigation into his possible illicit enrichment.
As reported by 
The fact that Kostin’s chair is shaking has been discussed for months. However, the corruption scandal with his confidant Verbytskyi may just be the trigger for political personnel decisions.
MPs from the Servant of the People party do not predict the exact date when the vote for the Prosecutor General’s resignation may take place, which will automatically mean the replacement of his entire team. However, they do admit in their conversations that the Rada is “preparing for personnel votes”.
To recap, according to sources
The Verbytskyi case
According to a recent investigation by the Schemes project, the girlfriend of the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Dmytro Verbytskyi leads a luxurious life. In 2024, Khrystyna Ilnytska bought a luxury Porsche car and a three-storey cottage in Kyiv. The total cost of these purchases is 52 million hryvnias.
Verbytskyi himself denies any involvement in financing these purchases. However, Ilnytska’s officially declared income over the past 10 years is only about UAH 360,000.
Later, Verbytskyi’s girlfriend denied the information in the Skhemy investigation and stated that she had bought all the property at her own expense.
This case caused a wide public outcry and led to the opening of criminal proceedings by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine regarding Verbytskyi’s possible illicit enrichment.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin stated that an internal investigation had been launched against Verbytskyi.
on 21 June, Verbytskyi was suspended from his duties.
Read also:
- Will the Rada find votes for Kostin’s resignation: what is known
- Replacing Kostin and Malyuk: new personnel decisions are being prepared on Bankova Street
- Million-dollar salary and social housing in Germany: what is known from Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin’s declaration
