"Political decision": Verlanov on own dismissal from top post in tax service

Serhiy Verlanov believes that his dismissal from the post of chairman of the State Tax Service, as well as the sacking of customs chief Maksym Nefyodov, was an unfounded, "political decision". "I believe that this marks a change in the course. This decision is political. These decisions are unfounded in terms of effectiveness," Verlanov told a TV panel show Freedom of Speech with Savik Shuster on Friday, April 24. The former tax chief says he still doesn't know exactly who initiated his dismissal, adding that he wasn't even invited to a relevant Cabinet meeting or consulted on the matter. "I have no information on who initiated the submission because we were not invited. I think that we will dig up those papers and they will emerge in the press tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," Verlanov said. The former head of tax claims that "the course" appeared to have changed immediately after President Volodymyr Zekensky's meeting with major business CEOs in February. Also, he claims one of the reasons for his dismissal is success in meeting taxation targets for the first time in the past eight years, and that political opponents may not like the tax agency's performance. In addition, Verlanov said that on April 24, he had filed with the Prosecutor General's Office a report, asking prosecutors to launch a criminal probe into false accusations by ex-finance minister Ihor Umansky. As UNIAN reported earlier, on April 24, the government dismissed tax and customs chiefs. Former Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said the move to sack Verlanov was another mistake by the authorities amid a continued cleansing of anti-corruption figures in government. In turn, Verlanov said fiscal reform was in jeopardy since the government hadn't been focused on Ukraine's obligations to international partners.

"Political decision": Verlanov on own dismissal from top post in tax service

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