“The problems of the Pipe have just begun”: what is known about Zelensky’s dismissal of the head of the Ukrainian State Security Committee

The head of the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine, Roman Truba, was dismissed by a presidential decree. The corresponding document is published on the website of the head of the Ukrainian state.

“To relieve Pipe Roman Mikhailovich from the post of director of the State Bureau of Investigation,” the decree reads. The acting head of the department appointed Irina Venediktova.

Venediktova is a lawyer and member of the Servant of the People party. Ukrainian media wrote about her as a person who, in the president’s team, is responsible for reforms in the judicial system. Later, she headed the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy.

The pipe was dismissed as part of the restart of the GDB, the order of which the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky approved on December 24. The explanatory note to the document says that the initiative is aimed at improving the organization.

Restarting involves changing the status of the GDB from the central executive authority to the state law enforcement agency.

• President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky
• © @ president.gov.ua

The head of the department also received the authority to independently appoint three deputies and determine their responsibilities. In addition, the new procedure provides that investigators of the prosecutor's office and prosecutors who have investigated cases related to the Maidan can be transferred to the State Security Bureau without a mandatory tender.

Along with these changes, the restart of the GDB means the early dismissal of the leadership of the department from their posts. Roman Truba believes that this is a "political decision."

“Changes to the law on the GBR have been signed. Upon entry into force, the director and alternates early terminate their powers. This, of course, is a political, not a legal norm, ”Trump wrote in his Telegram channel.

In September, Trumpet was implicated in a wiretap scandal. Appropriate equipment was found in his office, after which the Ukrainian media began to publish the content of the conversations attributed to Truba. In them, in particular, they talked about cases against Ukrainian officials, including allegedly on the "order" of the current administration.

Zelensky himself in early December, when the Verkhovna Rada voted on the law on restarting the GDB, talked about possible corruption in the GDB.

The “right hand” of the director of the GDB is suspected of receiving a bribe of $ 150 thousand. Another argument in favor of the need to restart the management of the Bureau, ”Zelensky wrote on December 3 on Facebook.

Zelensky pointed out that the GDB was created as an "independent and objective" organization. “It’s a pity if these good intentions are not fulfilled,” Zelensky wrote.

Later it became known that for the attempt to get a bribe of $ 150 thousand, the former head of the Main Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Igor Shcherbina was detained. For the involvement in this crime was also checked and the head of the RBG Pipe.

In the party “Servant of the People” they told RT that Zelensky had no choice but to dismiss Trumpet amid the scandal surrounding the head of the RSB.

“He has no doubt that the scandal was rigged and it is a“ political norm ”. But Zelensky thinks about his image and rating, and therefore appointed a reliable ally. Zelensky is gradually tightening control over state structures and the State Security Committee is no exception, ”the party said.

An RT source in the Fatherland party is of the opinion that in the future the State Bureau of Investigation will become a structure that is close to the country's leadership.

“The bureau can become a structure that fulfills the orders of the country's leadership. This will strengthen the power of Vladimir Zelensky, but may lead to a drop in the president’s rating, ”the political union said.

Commenting on the events around the GBR, political analyst Ivan Mezyuho spoke about Zelensky’s decision as an attempt to gain electoral points.

“The President of Ukraine now and again requires law enforcement agencies to investigate high-profile cases, so with this decision he is trying to divert the anger of radicals and public activists from his person to the former head of the GDB,” the expert suggested in an interview with RT.

He expressed the opinion that in the future among managers Zelensky there will be enough "confusion and reeling."

“I do not exclude the possibility that in the future he will use technology for constant personnel changes in order to somewhat push back negative comments from his inner circle towards other people who were also previously associated with his name,” Mezyuho believes.

According to the political scientist, Zelensky’s opponents can take advantage of the situation for new reproaches towards the head of state and the new Ukrainian government, which “cannot find any internal consensus on a number of issues of domestic and foreign policy.”

GBR and affairs Poroshenko

The State Bureau of Investigation is a relatively new body for the Ukrainian law enforcement system, formed in February 2016. In fact, its formation took about a year and a half. In November 2017, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on the appointment of Roman Truba as the director of the GDB.

Among the duties of GBR employees are the suppression and investigation of crimes committed by senior officials, in particular, the president, his advisers and assistants, the head of the cabinet, ministers, the prosecutor general and others.

So, the former head of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is a defendant in a number of criminal cases. Shortly before the resignation, Pipe himself spoke out that if a person from the Prosecutor General’s Office was appointed to his place, consideration of cases against Poroshenko could be stopped.

“There is a high probability that they (criminal proceedings involving the name Poroshenko. - RT ) will be stopped ... If the acting will be someone from the Prosecutor General’s Office,” Interfax quoted the pipe.

The RT source in the Golos party believes that from the outside the situation with Truba really looks like Poroshenko’s attempt to take revenge.

“I think Trumpet simply did not understand who he was dealing with. Poroshenko retained influence within the country and a large number of allies in the EU and the USA. And do not forget that Poroshenko does not forget the grievances, so Roman Pipe’s problems have only just begun, ”the source said.