Maria Gaidar, who has been appointed deputy head of the Odesa regional administration, said she does not want to give up Russian citizenship, but will follow Ukrainian legislation and does not rule out that she will work in the team of the head of the Odesa regional administration as a volunteer or adviser.
“Naturally, I will follow Ukrainian laws. If there are any problems, any contradictions, I honestly don’t want to be a point of conflict. I am ready to work in the team as an adviser or as a volunteer […] Of course, I will follow Ukrainian laws. I, of course, don’t want to give up Russian citizenship, but we will do things the way they need to be done according to the law,” Gaidar told reporters at a press conference in Kyiv on July 20.
Under Ukrainian legislation, only a citizen of Ukraine can work as a public servant in Ukraine.
Gaidar also said she will work in the sphere of humanitarian issues, specifically, internally displaced persons.
Mikheil Saakashvili, the head of the Odesa regional administration, announced on July 17 Gaidar’s appointment as his deputy and said she will be working with social issues. Saakashvili said Gaidar would take Ukrainian citizenship to be appointed to the post.
Gaidar is the daughter of Russian statesman and political Yegor Gaidar. She was born in 1982. She is a Russian politician, public figure and journalist with Ekho Moskvy. She is the founder and head of the Social Demand Foundation.
