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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Zelensky Has Decided on a Potential Head of the SBU — He’s a Figure in the Yushchenko Poisoning Scandal
Presidential candidate of Ukraine, showman Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will present the key five members of his team after advancing to the second round of the presidential election.
He also said that he is considering the candidacy of Ihor Smeshko (a figure in the scandal over the poisoning of former President Viktor Yushchenko, — ed.) for the post of head of the SBU if he wins the election. He said this at a meeting with leading business associations in Kyiv on Monday, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
"We want to present the key people by the end of the second round, if we get there. We won’t lead people by the nose — we will name the five. The rest — there will be almost 2,5 months until presidential powers. I think that time will be enough for us to find everyone," Zelensky said.
According to him, he sees people in his team who came to meet with him and he expressed hope that they also see themselves on his team.
It is noted that the conversation also included former Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oleksandr Danylyuk, former Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavičius, Member of Parliament Serhiy Leshchenko, and co-owner of Nova Poshta Vyacheslav Klymov.
Zelensky also added that building the team is a "very difficult issue," and with some potential candidates for key state positions they were unable to reach an agreement.
"Here is a person I negotiated with, because we have known each other since the defense of Kramatorsk airport in 2014 — Serhiy Kryvonos, he defended it. A super officer who recently became... deputy head of the RNBO. He is a presidential candidate, we met with him, agreed on how it will be later — we’ll see, but in the defense sector you are No.1, I see you," the candidate said.
According to the showman, he and Kryvonos agreed that they would sign a memorandum of support after the second round of the presidential election.
"After that, two days later, and on the way to the Presidential Administration he withdrew in favor of Petro Poroshenko. I don’t know what that was about, but I can only say that this person had been in that position," Zelensky said.
As for the Security Service of Ukraine, he said, "you have to look at the officers in the second and third tiers of the service."
"Many people write to us, and in the online poll... I don’t know this person, but everyone praises Smeshko (former head of the SBU, presidential candidate Ihor Smeshko, — ed.). I don’t know him, I’ve never spoken to him, so I can’t draw any conclusions yet," he noted.
He said that after becoming acquainted with information about a potential team member, it is necessary to spend some time with him.
"I have to live with him — I don’t know how else you can take people to work," the presidential candidate summed up.
Zelensky also said that he intends to fight corruption as much as possible by all available means.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Зеленський визначився з потенційним очільником СБУ - це фігурант скандалу з отруєння Ющенка". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
