Tkachenko resigns "due to a wave of misunderstanding"

Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko resigned on Thursday, 20 July. He cited a "wave of misunderstanding" as the reason for his decision.

The minister announced this on his Telegram channel. "I submitted my resignation to the Prime Minister tonight because of a wave of misunderstanding about the importance of culture during the war," he wrote.

Tkachenko noted that he allegedly found out that President Zelenskyy had instructed Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to deal with the issue of his replacement after he had submitted his resignation.

"Only then was I surprised by the president's statement on the same issue. Culture is important in times of war because it is a war not only for territories, but for people, and people are our memory, history, language, creativity despite the war, heritage and the past for the sake of the future. Both private and budgetary funds for culture during the war are no less important. And this is my principled position against others," the minister added.

It should be noted that Tkachenko submitted his resignation before the full-scale invasion of 2021. At the time, he cited the separation of the Ukrainian State Film Production from the ministry under his leadership as the reason for his decision. However, the parliament did not support this initiative and Tkachenko retained his position.

During the 1.5 years of full-scale hostilities, Oleksandr Tkachenko's activities were repeatedly criticised and even led to scandals. In particular, Ukrainians are outraged by the fact that the minister did not take care of the evacuation of Ukraine's cultural property, which resulted in its destruction by the occupiers, as well as by the dubious summons to a national telethon, which allocates millions of budget funds.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, after the scandal with the notorious 17-hryvnia eggs, the Ukrainian public was watching the change of leadership in the Ministry of Defence. However, the head of the ministry, Reznikov, denied all rumours and indicated when and under what circumstances he would leave his post.

"This is my dream! And even more so for my wife. She cried when I was appointed minister, that says it all. We are waiting for the day of victory because it will allow me to sign my resignation and return to the private sector. This stage of my life is very, very difficult," the defence minister said in April 2023.

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