Prosecutor general may face dismissal due to allegedly corrupt Lviv prosecutor

Medvedko’s tenure expires in 4 months, and neither the presidential administration nor the Party of Regions are going to nominate him for a second term due to his unreliability, the weekly says.

Those who can take over from Medvedkoare are two Regions ideal yes-men, Viktor Pshonka and Yury Udartsov.

Pshonka has been recently appointed first deputy and Udartsov deputy prosecutor general.
According to the weekly, Udartsov will be Plan B if Pshonka’s appointment fails. Although, the weekly continues, both candidates may have problems which can disrupt their promotion expectations.

For instance, in 2001, Pshonka and Udartsov were implicated in the murder of journalist Ihor Aleksandrov from Slovyansk, Donbas. Three years before his death, Slovyansk prosecutor Udartsov initiated a criminal investigation against the journalist allegedly for smearing businessman and deputy Leshchynsky. Then, a local court banned Aleksandrov to engage in journalism for 5 years. Before his murder, Aleksandrov appealed to Donetsk prosecutor Pshonka asking for protection against numerous threats to his life. There was no reaction from Pshonka. 

Yet, Medvedko may chose to resign against the backdrop of an investigation by journalists into the activities of Lviv oblast prosecutor Oleksy Bahanets. However, a source in the PGO maintains it is rather a leak to the press.   

No press outlet can burden and financially afford such complex investigation, involving tracking Bahanets and his driver in Kyiv and Lviv simultaneously, obtain copies of Bahanets bank accounts.  This kind of investigation can only be carried out by special services, the source notes.