Ukrainian MP Oleksii Honcharenko has said Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved a motion submitted by the president of Ukraine to dismiss Head of Odesa Regional State Administration Maksym Stepanov.
"The letter of Kherson governor [Andriy Gordeev's] resignation and the dismissal of Head of Odesa Regional State Administration Maksym Stepanov, as proposed by the president, have been approved," he told journalists after a government meeting, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
Read alsoOdesa governor says his dismissal connected with “ensuring fair elections”
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dismissed Maksym Stepanov as Head of Odesa Regional State Administration and appointed First Deputy Head Serhiy Parashchenko as acting governor.
The relevant decrees were published on the president's website.
However, in an unexpected move, Stepanov refused to step down.
"A decree on my dismissal was published on the president's website a few hours ago. A very strange document, which, in my opinion, according to all lawyers, has nothing to do with the legislation of Ukraine," he told a briefing on Monday, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
Stepanov said the document "went beyond the powers of the president" enshrined in the Constitution.
He added the president has the right to appoint and dismiss heads of the regional state administrations on the proposal of the Cabinet of Ministers. At the same time, Stepanov said he was offered to write a letter of resignation. "I refused because I had no desire to do this. I continue performing my duties," he said.
UNIAN memo. Maksym Stepanov was appointed Odesa governor in January 2017.
He replaced Mikheil Saakashvili. Before his appointment, he led the state-run Ukraina Printing Plant.
