ZCZC
BFF-31
UKRAINE-POLITICS
Ukraine PM offers resignation after leaked recording
KIEV, Jan 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Ukraine’s prime minister offered his
resignation on Friday after audio was leaked of him reportedly criticising
President Volodomyr Zelensky’s understanding of the economy.
“To remove any doubts about our respect for and trust in the president, I
have written a resignation letter and handed it over to the president,”
Oleksiy Goncharuk wrote on his official Facebook page.
He said the audio “artificially created an impression that my team and I
do not respect the president”.
“This is not true,” he said. “I came to this post to carry out the
president’s programme.”
Zelensky’s office said it had received the letter of resignation and would
consider it.
The alleged recordings, which emerged this week, came from an informal
December meeting between ministers and senior officials from the National
Bank.
According to local media reports, the participants discussed how to
explain recent economic developments to Zelensky, a 41-year-old comedian and
political neophyte who won a surprise election victory last year.
Goncharuk, 35, is reportedly heard saying that explanations need to be
simple because Zelensky has a “primitive understanding” of the economy.
He also called himself an economic “ignoramus”.
After the recordings emerged on Wednesday, media reported that Goncharuk
resigned but his office denied this.
– Stagnant politics –
Goncharuk became Ukraine’s youngest-ever prime minister after Zelensky
nominated him for the post in August amid a stalling economy and war with
separatists in the east.
Goncharuk’s candidacy was quickly approved by MPs as Zelensky’s “Servant
of the People” party holds a majority in parliament.
His appointment was in line with Zelensky’s vow to bring in fresh faces
and shake up Ukraine’s stagnant politics.
He replaced Volodymyr Groysman, 41, who offered his resignation after
Zelensky was inaugurated in May.
A young lawyer with virtually no experience in government, Goncharuk was
little known to the public.
Goncharuk, who studied law and public administration before co-founding a
law firm at the age of 24, is considered a supporter of liberal economic
reforms.
Before becoming deputy head of the president’s office when Zelensky came
to power, he managed for several years an EU-funded NGO that works to improve
the business environment in Ukraine.
Timothy Ash, a senior emerging markets strategist at Bluebay Asset
Management, said this week that while Zelensky was not a trained economist,
he has hired “a decent economic team.”.
Ukraine’s economy has been hit hard by the conflict in the east and is
reliant on foreign aid.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1515HRS