“Decided to give you a chance”: Zelensky rejected Goncharuk’s resignation

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky rejected a letter of resignation filed by Prime Minister Alexei Goncharuk.

Zelensky confirmed that he had received a document from Goncharuk, but the president said he intends to give the head of the Cabinet a chance.

“I decided to give you and your government a chance if you decide certain things that today are very important and concern our society. Now is not the time to undermine the state economically and politically, ”Zelensky said during a meeting with Goncharuk. A recording of their conversation was published on the Facebook of the office of the President of Ukraine.

Recall that on the morning of January 17, Goncharuk announced that he had submitted his resignation letter to the head of state in order to “remove any doubts about respect and trust in the president.”

The head of the Cabinet explained that this decision is connected with the appearance on social networks of audio recordings allegedly made at a meeting of the Ukrainian government. On them, a man with a voice similar to that of Goncharuk says that the president has a "very primitive" understanding of economic processes. The speaker calls himself "a complete ignoramus in the economy."

The press service of the Government of Ukraine said that they did not have data on the authenticity of the record. The prime minister himself said that his words were edited from the records of other meetings. Goncharuk noted that the content of these conversations “artificially creates the idea” that the prime minister and his team “do not respect the president”.

Zelensky demanded that law enforcement authorities establish the identities of everyone involved in this audio recording within two weeks.

Commenting on the situation, the Ukrainian political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak suggested that the letter of resignation and Zelensky’s reaction could be played out a combination.

“This is not the first time this is used when officials announce their resignation, they do not accept it, and they automatically receive a guaranteed term for another year,” the expert said in an interview with RT.

Among the tasks outlined by the president for the government is a new salary concept for a number of officials, including heads of ministries, departments, state companies and their deputies. The concept should be developed taking into account the situation in the country.

“It should be a normal salary. We understand that these are very serious specialists, but I want to have a common opinion with you and the ministers that such salaries can be in Ukraine today in the situation in which our economy is located, ”Zelensky said.

He added that it will be possible to increase the salaries of officials after Goncharuk and "his government raise the economy."

According to Zelensky, with ministers who do not agree to work for the proposed salary, "have to say goodbye." In addition to this, the president allowed personnel changes in the government.

“I have no reason to think that one of them is a dishonest person or they are unprofessional. I remember how you chose this government, how we communicated with you and with them, how we saw their strategy and their team. But we want to strengthen the government. Therefore, I beg you to find weaknesses and replace certain heads of ministries, according to their professional data, ”the president addressed the prime minister.

In addition, Zelensky pointed out to the prime minister the need to reformat individual central executive bodies and to divide functions in a number of ministries. As the president pointed out, initially the unification of the ministries was the right decision, since Ukraine had "a professional, personnel shortage and a small budget."

“It seems to me that time has shown that some ministries should be divided,” Zelensky believes.

Goncharuk himself thanked the president for his trust and agreed with the measures that the head of state spoke about, promising to fulfill the instructions.

“I’m not afraid of the prospect of trying to return the advance payment, the credit of trust that you delegated on behalf of the company,” said the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Commenting on the events around Goncharuk, the director of the Institute for Peace Initiatives and Conflictology Denis Denisov noted that the situation resembles a planned action.

“I got the impression that this is not a real proposal, but rather a game for the public in order to distract attention from the scandal over the fact that Goncharuk in his conversation with his colleagues rather ambiguously assesses Zelensky’s ability to evaluate economic processes,” the expert said.

He suggested that Ukraine’s foreign partners would most likely defend Goncharuk, because the prime minister “ensures that Western capital dominates Ukraine with its reforms and actions.”

“In this regard, he acts in the interests of transnational corporations. That is, this story is far from extraordinary. The communication problems of Zelensky and Goncharuk are their internal problems, let them figure it out themselves, ”Denisov concluded.