Lawyers: Procedure for appointing interim head of SBU changed for Yevhen Khmara
Evgeniy Khmara (Photo: SBU)

In order to appoint Yevhen Khmara as interim head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy separate by decree changed the appointment procedure. About this in the commentary LIGA.net told attorneys and lawyers.

According to one of the interlocutors, one of the conditions for Khmara's appointment was allegedly his voluntary resignation Vasyl Malyuk. Although he noted that no one believed in it until the very end.

Read also
Without the Kid. What does the change of the SBU head mean and what to expect from Khmara?

After Malyuk's dismissal as head of the SBU, his first deputy, Oleksandr Poklad, was temporarily in charge of the service. He is called one of the "strongest counterintelligence officers in Ukraine." But some of the interlocutors LIGA.net accuses him of involvement in conflicts with NABU, using harsh methods of work and being close to the Presidential Office.

As reported by LIGA.net several interlocutors in the Main Intelligence Directorate and among MPs, Poklad also allegedly has a conflict with the former head of the GUR, now the head of the Presidential Office Kirill Budanov.

"They have their own history of hostility there," said one of the MPs.

That is why the president had to move away from the automatic replacement model, he explained LIGA.net attorney at law of Juscutum's business security practice Oleksandr Chornukha.

Now, during martial law, the right to appoint an interim head of the SBU is directly assigned to the president. According to Chornukha, this eliminates the risk of formal or undesirable automaticity in the leadership of the special service during a critical period.

  • In early January, there were rumors of Malyuk's dismissal, and on January 5, Zelensky signed the relevant decree, despite appeals many military officers to leave him in office. The president appointed Alpha commander Khmara as interim head of the SBU.
  • On the same day, the president approved other personnel decisions in the SBU.
  • Sources LIGA.net also reported that the reason for Malyuk's resignation was the high-profile publicity of Mindgate. He had to prevent it.