Poroshenko proceeds to form his own team of governors

Photo: PHL

This week Ukraine expects the appointment of the new heads of the Zhytomyr, Vinnytsya, Volyn and Mykolaiv Oblast State Administrations (OSA). Poroshenko’s first appointments of the heads of OSA demonstrated that the president relies on individuals with whom he has worked in the past.

Presidential quartet

Capital’s source in the Cabinet of Ministers said that at the last meeting of the government it approved the appointment of four new heads of OSA, whose candidacies were put forth by the president. “The candidates came to the Cabinet meeting, where they were questioned. Based on the replies, the government gave its consent. Since nobody had any complaints, I believe the decrees on their appointments will not keep us in waiting,” said the source.

He added that the Cabinet approved the candidacy of Serhiy Mashkovskiy as head of the Zhytomyr Oblast Administration, who will replace the representative of the Svoboda party Sydor Kizin, who headed the oblast since March 2014. Mashkovskiy is 34. He is the director of a car dealership and a deputy of the Zhytomyr City Council representing the Ridne Misto party. “His company is engaged in car sales and works in the structure of Poroshenko’s auto business,” said Tetyana Chornovol, head of the Ukrainian government’s National Anti-Corruption Committee, in an interview to Capital.

MP Yuriy Syrotyuk (Svoboda) told the newspaper that their party is puzzled with the reshuffling in the Zhytomyr oblast. “Kizin proved his efficiency as governor. He is an experienced lawyer, a patriotic official and knows how to work with the community. He was replaced by a young man who used to be the head of the dealership and has almost no experience in political activities,” said Syrotyuk. Yet, the Svoboda party is not going to protest against Kizin’s dismissal, agreeing with the personnel decision of the president.

The head of the Mykolayiv Oblast State Administration has also been replaced. Instead of Mykola Romanchuk, former director of the Okean shipyard, the position will be occupied by Batkivshchyna lawmaker Vadym Merykov. The latter was included on the party list as #66 during the last parliamentary elections in 2012. Merykov managed to gain a seat in the Verkhovna Rada after the parliament terminated the powers of MPs Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Stepan Kubiv in March.

Noteworthy is that in May Merykov’s brother Artur was appointed to the office of the head of the Department of Internal Affairs in the Mykolaiv oblast. Former head of the oblast Mykola Kruhlov explains Merykov’s future appointment by the fact that at one time he was the leader of the Mykolayiv branch of Yatsenyuk’s Front for Changes party, which later merged with Batkivshchyna.

“Merykov’s return to Mykolayiv means that the oblast was given to representatives of the former Front for Changes. This is planning and preparation for the future parliamentary and local elections,” said Kruhlov.

Head of the Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration Anatoliy Oliynyk will be reappointed by the newly elected president. “Oliynyk proved to be a worthy official during and after the Maidan. He is a professional economist, knows how to attract investments and knows the underside of administrative work,” lawmaker Oleksandr Dombrovskiy (independent, elected in the Vinnytsya oblast) said in a conversation with Capital.

MP Oleksiy Kayda (Svoboda), who was present at the Cabinet meeting, told the publication that the head of the Volyn Oblast State Administration will be given to the CEO of the Bohdan Motors Lutsk Automobile Plant Corporation Volodymyr Hunchyk, who led Poroshenko’s regional headquarters during the presidential campaign.

Governors wait for prefects

The president has not yet made any decisions regarding replacement or reassignment of heads in other oblasts, our source in the Presidential Administration confirmed.

“We are deliberately not speeding up the process and have a balanced approach to the analysis of the results of work of each governor and the activities of state administrations. The president also keeps an open ear to the concerns of all political forces with respect to governors with the expectation of coordinated solutions,” said the source.

He did not rule out that another reason for the president's deliberation is his desire to conduct a more ambitious personnel rotation after the fate of the draft amendments to the Constitution that the president submitted to the parliament. According to those proposals, oblasts will have prefects – representatives of the president, who will replace the local state administrations.

It is worth noting that on July 3 the parliament included in the agenda of the session the presidential draft of amendments to the Constitution, which will be voted on this week. Two weeks ago a special group of lawmakers was created especially to draw up a package of proposals to Poroshenko’s draft. However, as legislator Volodymyr Pylypenko of the Economic Development group said in a conversation with Capital, the last few meetings of the group have been derailed.

“No joint document was drafted,” he said. Oleksandr Dombrovskiy, who is one of the members of the president's inner circle, told Capital that there are votes in support of the presidential bill.