The Office of the President of Ukraine has asked the Cabinet of Ministers to submit a request for the dismissal of head of the Kyiv City State Administration Vitaliy Klitschko, press secretary of the Prime Minister Vasyl Riabchuk said.
“We’ve received such an appeal, now it is being processed in the prescribed manner,” Riabchuk told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
The chief operating officer of U.S.-based Trident Acquisitions Corp., the ex-head of Smart-Holding, Oleksiy Tymofeyev, launches a challenge to attract investment in Ukraine if the Servant of the People party fulfills the promised reforms. “If Zelensky’s team fulfills its checklist of reforms, I pledge to personally bring to Ukraine at least $100 million in direct investment per year. Each has its own Ironman [the triathlon competition]. I have one,” he said on Facebook.
The candidate for people’s deputy from the Servant of the People party, David Arakhamiya [also knows as David Braun], who was appointed member of the Ukroboronprom supervisory board by the president of Ukraine in July, noted in his commentary to Tymofeyev “I’ll hold you to that!”
Chairman of the board of ATF Bank (Kazakhstan), the ex-director for business development at Nova Poshta, Serhiy Kovalenko, also said in comments that he is ready to support the initiative with an investment amount of $50 million.
The manager of the asset development and valuation department of DTEK Oil&Gas, Yuriy Moroz, in turn, wrote that he would run the Ironman competition if Tymofeyev attracts the promised investments.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, by his decrees, has dismissed Ukrainian ambassadors in 11 countries. Presidential decrees dismiss Valeriy Chaly from the post of Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., to Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago (part-time), Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia Petro Lytvyn, and Ambassador to Turkmenistan Valentyn Shevaliov, the official website of the president reported.
Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus Borys Humeniuk, ambassador to Argentina and part-time to Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile, Yuriy Dudin, were dismissed.
Ambassador to Vietnam and part-time to Cambodia, Oleksiy Shovkoplias, ambassador to Morocco Yaroslav Koval, and ambassador to Jordan Serhiy Pasko, were also dismissed.
Zelensky fired ambassador of Ukraine to Nigeria and part-time to Ghana, Benin and Sierra Leone, Valeriy Aleksandruk, and ambassador to South Africa Taras Kuzmych.
In addition, Ambassador of Ukraine to Vatican and part-time to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Tetiana Izhevska, was also dismissed.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and founder of the Japanese Internet company Rakuten Hiroshi Mikitani have discussed plans to enhance the company’s presence in Ukraine, in particular the expansion of the office in Odesa and the opening of a new office in Kyiv. Zelensky and Mikitani met on June 25, the presidential website said.
In Ukraine, Rakuten is best known as the owner of the Viber service.
Hiroshi Mikitani says Ukraine is a priority market for Rakuten. He expressed his willingness to support the idea of increasing the number of investment projects from Japan.
He also approvingly responded to Zelensky’s initiative “The State in a Smartphone” and expressed a desire to cooperate closely under this project, since Viber is an integral part of the smartphone of most Ukrainians.
Following the meeting, Zelensky invited Mikitani to join the National Investment Council whose secretary is IT entrepreneur David Arakhamia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has changed composition of the National Investment Council, appointing himself head of the council.
According to a posting on the website of the head of state, decree No. 423/2019 was signed on June 21.
“The Council includes: the Prime Minister of Ukraine; the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (by agreement); the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine; the Minister of Finance of Ukraine; the Minister of Justice of Ukraine; and also representatives of the Ukrainian and foreign organizations and companies, business circles, experts on issues of attracting investments, development of entrepreneurship, specialists in the field of economics, finance (subject to their consent),” the president said in the amended paragraph 5 of the Regulations on the National Investment Council.
The Council consisting of 29 members was approved by the decree. Candidate to people’s deputies from the Servant of the People Party David Arakhamia is appointed Secretary of the Council. Also, the National Investment Council includes deputy heads of the Presidential Administration Oleksiy Honcharuk and Vadym Prystaiko, president’s advisor Andriy Yermak and president’s advisor Oleh Ustenko.
After the change of its composition, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oksana Markarova and Minister of Justice Pavlo Petrenko are left members of the Coucil.
The remaining 19 people were introduced to the board by their consent: these are presidents, CEOs and board chairmen of large international companies and banking organizations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an informal meeting with journalists at the Presidential Administration building in Kyiv on Wednesday declared his intention to relocate his administration from the center of Kyiv and turn the old Presidential Administration building into an art museum.
“I want this very much. The main problem for me now is time limits. Because to build a structure from scratch is impossible. But I cannot be here, because it drives me crazy,” the president said.
Zelensky said he is looking at options which will not require taking money for the move from the state budget. He said the old Presidential Administration building could be turned into an art museum.