The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has completed an internal investigation into the circumstances of former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko's departure abroad. The review found that he independently issued an order for his own business trip, signed the document, and sealed it with the official stamp of the agency.

Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalyskiy announced this on November 2 during a meeting with journalists, according to Ukrinform.

According to Kovalyskiy, the internal investigation confirmed violations of the internal instructions of the Office of the Prosecutor General. To leave Ukraine, Kravchenko used an invitation to participate in a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The agency head called the use of this document unjustified.

The review reconstructed in detail the circumstances of the preparation of the business trip. On Friday, September 11, Kravchenko summoned the head of the PGO unit responsible for keeping the official stamp and asked her to give it to him. The stamp remained with the then prosecutor general over the weekend.

As it turned out during the investigation, Kravchenko was at his workplace on September 12 and 13. The commission established that during this period he independently prepared and printed the order for his overseas business trip, signed it, and affixed the seal of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Kovalyskiy suggested that the preparation of the trip could have been planned in advance, since Kravchenko took the stamp on Friday. This is an assumption by the head of the PGO, not a separate fact established by the investigation.

On Monday morning, September 14, agency employees found the official stamp and an envelope with the business trip order in Kravchenko's office. The document was handed over to the HR department, where it was registered.

Kovalyskiy explained that at that time, HR staff did not know that Kravchenko would not return to Ukraine after the trip.

According to the acting prosecutor general, the identified violations constituted a disciplinary offense for which Kravchenko should have been dismissed from the prosecution service. However, Kovalyskiy did not wait for the materials to be considered by the Qualification Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors.

By that time, the former prosecutor general had submitted a resignation from the prosecution service, on the basis of which a personnel decision was made. Thus, Kravchenko left the agency before the completion of the prescribed disciplinary procedure.

The review also established that when traveling abroad, Kravchenko did not use an official vehicle of the Office of the Prosecutor General. In addition, before the trip, he submitted a request to refuse state protection.

Earlier, Kurs Ukrainy reported that Kravchenko crossed the state border on the night of September 14 through the Shehyni checkpoint in Lviv region. The State Border Guard Service confirmed that he presented documents for an official business trip, which at that time allowed him to leave the country.

During border control, a special marker in the database was triggered, but as the border service explained, it only required notifying the authorized body about the border crossing. There was no ban on leaving. The border guards rejected reports that Kravchenko was allowed to leave only after a phone call from Kyiv.

These explanations concerned the actions of the border guards and were not an assessment of the legality of the processing of the business trip itself. The Office of the Prosecutor General reviewed the latter as part of a separate internal investigation.

Kravchenko's business trip expired on September 18. However, on September 21 he did not appear at work, although after being relieved of the post of prosecutor general he formally remained on the staff of the prosecution service.

The internal investigation into the circumstances of the trip was appointed on September 22 by Kovalyskiy's decision. The review was to establish compliance with the rules for processing business trips and circumstances that could have facilitated violations. Back on October 9, the PGO leadership reported that the investigation was ongoing and final conclusions would be made after its completion.

Journalists also asked Kovalyskiy about the possible criminal liability of the former prosecutor general. He recalled that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office continue their investigation within the "Carthage" operation. If the investigation establishes facts of Kravchenko violating criminal law, he may be served with a notice of suspicion.

At the same time, the establishment of disciplinary violations in the processing of the business trip does not in itself mean that Kravchenko is guilty of a criminal offense. No notification of suspicion based on the results of this official review was announced.

The story of the former prosecutor general's departure abroad unfolded against the backdrop of the anti-corruption investigation "Carthage." In early September, NABU and SAPO announced the exposure of an alleged criminal organization operating with the participation of prosecution officials.

According to the investigation, one of the heads of a structural unit of the PGO created a group whose members received money from fraudulent call centers for non-interference in their activities. The funds received, law enforcement officers claim, were laundered through the purchase of property and other financial operations.

On October 22, NABU announced a new suspect in the case — a former head of one of the departments of the Office of the Prosecutor General. According to the anti-corruption agency, the total amount of documented illicit benefit within the investigated scheme exceeded UAH 1 billion.

Kravchenko himself had previously denied involvement in covering up illegal call centers. On September 6, he publicly stated that he had no relation to the alleged criminal activity, and suspended the PGO employee involved in the NABU investigation from duties.

On the evening of September 7, Kravchenko announced that he had submitted a resignation from the post of prosecutor general. After the Verkhovna Rada approved the dismissal, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the relevant decree on September 15.

Subsequently, Kravchenko submitted a separate resignation from the prosecution service. According to media reports, after leaving Ukraine he stayed in Austria.

Thus, the internal investigation completed on November 2 established specific violations of the procedure for processing the former prosecutor general's foreign business trip. At the same time, the NABU and SAPO investigation into the "Carthage" case remains a separate criminal proceeding.