Minister of Agrarian Policy Oleksiy Pavlenko, known for several successful reform initiatives, filed a resignation letter to the parliament after his party decided to call him off in a move to change the government.
The faction made its decision based explicitly on political reasons,” Pavlenko wrote on his Facebook page on Jan. 29. “I have to comply with the decision of the faction, which proposed me for the post of the minister 14 months ago.”
He added that now it’s up to the ruling coalition and the lawmakers to accept his resignation or not.
Pavlenko’s Samopomich party, which is a member of coalition, has continuously criticized Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s policy. Oleg Berezyuk, Samopomich’s leader in parliament, said the party was satisfied with Pavlenko, their only minister in government, but had to call him off as the government needs to be changed.
“We also decided to express no confidence to the government and believe it will make sense to form a new government with a new prime minister,” Berezyuk told Ukrainska Pravda on Jan. 28.
The agrarian and anti-corruption experts polled by the Kyiv Post praised high Pavlenko’s reform initiatives, including deregulation of the industry, opening of the new markets (Turkey, China and African nations), promotion of domestic agricultural and food products to foreign markets especially to Europe as a part of free-trade zone agreement.
Pavlenko was also successful in support for small and medium agrarian businesses and receiving the investment from international organizations, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund, the experts say.
“Deregulation and privatization are the important ways to tackle corruption in the agrarian sector,” Pavlenko wrote on his Facebook. He added that his ministry managed to attract about $1 billion of foreign investments into the agrarian sector.
Speaking at the government meeting on Jan. 27, Yatsenyuk also praised the success of Pavlenko’s reforms in the ministry.
The government is preparing to report to the parliament about its work over the 2015 year on Feb. 16, Oleg Lyashko, leader of the Radical Party, reported based on the meeting of the parliament factions. The government has to resign if the coalition members express no confidence to it or if the coalition splits up. Both options are now widely discussed into the parliament.
Pavlenko said that until the parliament takes a decision on his leave he was going to work “without losing tempo” as an acting minister.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]. Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliana Romanyshyn contributed reporting to the story.
