Ukraine President Zelenskyy Fires Chief of Staff Andriy Bohdan

11 February 2020 12:50

Zelenskyy's ex-chief of staff Andriy Bohdan.Courtesy

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree to dismiss his chief of staff Andriy Bohdan. Zelenskyy's aide, Andriy Yermak, will replace Bohdan in this role.

This comes minutes after Ukraine's Interfax news agency published fragments of Zelenskyy's interview where he said that there are conflicts within his team.

"There are conflicts. They disturb our work. I am always against such conflicts because they never have winners and there are no draws. Unfortunately," Zelenskyy was quoted as saying.

"So 100% we will be losing people. You cannot live in [the state of] constant conflict," Zelenskyy concluded.

Andriy Bohdan’s appointment as head of the presidential administration (PA) on May 21 sparked a heated discussion in the Ukrainian society because the position is viewed as one of the most influential in the country. He is one of the few persons with experience in politics who have been appointed so far, the rest mostly being Zelenskyy’s partners and friends. Moreover, Bohdan’s previous service in ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych’s office has raised many concerns in the civil society.

Many opposed the appointment of Bohdan and a petition on the president’s website for him to be dismissed quickly gathered the necessary 25,000 signatures for Zelenskyy to consider and respond. Two lawsuits to the Supreme Court followed. Bohdan also arguably falls under the “lustration” law, which prohibits him to work in state service until 2025.