According to ZIK’s sources, the contenders for the job are head of STA in the Rivne oblast Viktor Bashuk and former head of STA in the Ternopil oblast Kostyantyn Zinkevych. However, the hot favorite is Viktor Bashuk. He has been interviewed by the STA in Kyiv and is likely to take over soon after the Easter holidays.

Meanwhile, Lviv oblast council deputies have endorsed a petition Apr. 23 to Premier Tymoshenko and head of Ukraine’s STA, asking them not to dismiss V. Khyliuk, the ZIK correspondent reports.

The petition says that “From mass media reports, we have learned that STA board decided to dismiss heads of six oblast STAs, including V. Khyliuk.

V. Khyliuk did a lot to curb corruption within the STA and beat down tax evasion. He succeeded in starting a productive cooperation with Lviv oblast businessmen and built up their trust in the government. Over the past several years, Lviv STA has met tax collection targets set by the Finance Ministry. Specifically, in 2007, tax collection levels surpassed those of 2004 two and four times (during Khyluik’s tenure), the petition runs.

“As head of Lviv STA, V. Khyliuk implemented a transparent pattern for VAT rebates, liquidating the existing shadowy schemes. When businesses began to receive their due VAT compensations, it helped to reduce bogus VAT declarations.

V. Khyliuk has proven himself to be an experienced manager and economist, he is known for his integrity and high reputation. In his position, he maintained productive cooperation with Lviv entrepreneurs, local executive and the Lviv government and legislators.

We ask you to take into consideration the public opinion which is strongly in favor of Vitaly Khyliuk continuing in office,” the petition ends.