You're reading: Popov won’t resign, ‘not ashamed’ of handling of Kyiv cleanup

Head of Kyiv City Administration Oleksandr Popov said on March 28 that he has no plans to resign.

 “I want to ask, do you think I am irresponsible? Do you think that at the time when one needs to step up efforts, when the maximum result is required, I should step down and walk away saying ‘That’s it, I no longer care’?” Popov asked reporters at a press conference on March 28, according to Interfax-Ukraine. “I am not ashamed of the fact that we have done such enormous work, that we have almost restored the operation of the city in full.”

The city administration head said he
plans to fulfill all the commitments he’s laid out. “As to whether I acted
professionally and whether I organized this process (the removal of snow from Kyiv)
adequately – these (conclusions) will be made by the cabinet and the
president,” he added.

Popov halfheartedly apologized to
Kyivans on March 25, diverting much of the blame on Mother Nature.

“This is not the first time we have
had an emergency situation, we also experienced this in December. This is a
common problem… for this inconvenience, as head (of the Kyiv City Administration),
I certainly apologize,” Popov told reporters.

He also touted the work of city snowplows
and public utility companies for a job well-done.

However, Prime Minister Mykola
Azarov criticized efforts by Kyiv authorities in the aftermath of the
snowstorm, saying their work was unsatisfactory.

Three city workers lost their jobs
over the poor handling of the cleanup. Vitaliy Pshenychny, head of the city
administration’s emergency situations department, and Heorhiy Hlinsky, head of
the municipally owned Kyivavtodor road corporation, were fired by Popov, while
Oleksandr Mazurchak, first deputy head of administration, resigned.

Popov and the city administration
faced further criticism this week after it posted a photo-shopped image to its
website of snowplows in Moscow to illustrate the work being done in Kyiv to
clear its streets.

A representative of the city’s press
service dismissed the photograph as a technical error.

Kyiv Post staff writer Christopher J. Miller can be reached at [email protected].