Zelenskiy’s First Moves as President in Case of Victory

10 April 2019 15:28

Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s team spoke about the first decisions and appointments in the event the showman wins in the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine.

In case of his election as president, Zelenskiy plans to invite the United Kingdom and the United States to participate in the talks in the Normandy format, whilst Putin's old pal Viktor Medvedchuk will lose the role of mediator in negotiations with Russia. He also plans to announce his contenders for appointment as head of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Security Service (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office before April 19.

This was stated by the ideologue of Zelenskiy’s election campaign Ruslan Stefanchuk and an expert on the economic issues Danylo Hetmantsev according to publication LIGA.net.

Zelenskiy's team also plans to visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Zelenskiy is ready for direct talks with Russia with the participation of international partners, but there will be no talks with the "Luhansk People’s Republic" and "Donetsk People’s Republic" militants. He is also going to withdraw Viktor Medvedchuk from the negotiation process.

Zelenskiy wants to eliminate the "rivalry" between the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, and "to appoint honest judges" to the High Anti-Corruption Court.

In addition, Zelenskiy plans to propose to the parliament to pass the law on mediation.

In the economic sector, the showman wants to offer a 5% tax amnesty from 2020 and a tax on withdrawn capital. In addition, he plans to create a Financial Intelligence Service and provide for an international exchange of tax information.

Off the record, the following candidacies are being discussed for appointment: head of the Foreign Ministry: ex-finance minister Oleksandr Danyliuk, Prosecutor General: former U.S. prosecutor Marta Borshch, or former head of Romania’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate Laura Kovesi, head of the SBU: Ihor Smeshko, who came sixth in the first round of presidential elections, above the charismatic Oleh Lyashko.

Danyliuk is best known for his work in Volodymyr Groysman’s second government. He was dismissed in June 2018 after a conflict with the Prime Minister Groysman. Recently, former Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius referred to Danyliuk as one of Zelenskiy’s advisers.

Marta Borshch is the former prosecutor of ex-prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko. In 2018 she refused the position of the auditor of National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). As of February 2018, Borshch was a lawyer of the Ukrainian deputy-fugitive Oleksandr Onyshchenko.

Laura Kovesi took on corruption in her native Romania where she first acted as head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA). In that role, Kovesi had overseen a number of high-profile cases against officials, eliciting resistance from President Klaus Iohannis’s ruling party, and praise from the European Union. She was dismissed by Iohannis in July 2018, but continued her work in the new role as anti-corruption counselor to the Prosecutor General of Romania.

Ihor Smeshko acted as the head of SBU security service under former President Leonid Kuchma, and boasts vast experience as a military intelligence officer. He was fired by former President Viktor Yushchenko, with whom he and his deputy had dinner where Yushchenko was allegedly poisoned by dioxin in 2004. Smeshko previously mentioned that he admired Zelenskiy as an actor.

Among other names mentioned unofficially are ex-deputy Minister of Justice Ruslan Ryaboshapka, political consultant Dmytro Razumkov, head of Zelenskiy’s election campaign HQ Ivan Bakanov, and ideologue of Zelenskiy’s party “Servant of the People” Ruslan Stefanchuk.

Zelenskiy also plans to instruct the government to develop a package of bills to resolve the issue of national and local referendums.

Moreover, “Ze! Team” plans to set up a consultative body of international experts to conduct an audit of the state within three or four months.

Zelenskiy also wants a reform of the Presidential Administration to make it function like a registry that generates ideas.

“The takeaway from the meeting was that there are many ideas, but they do not want to talk about them in detail or they are not finalized yet,"- the publication summed up.

Later, however, Zelenskiy’s HQ refuted some of the claims made by the LIGA.net publication. "The media has information about the appointments that Volodymyr Zelenskiy supposedly plans after winning the presidential election in Ukraine. These messages are based on guesswork and assumptions. No personnel decisions have been made in Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s team. Moreover, they will not be backstage, because we did not ask Ukrainians in vain as to whom they would like to see in key positions," the issued statement reads.