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Ukraine’s Poroshenko asks Abromavicius to stay on as economy minister

"I strongly feel that Aivarus should stay on in his post and continue reforms," Poroshenko posted on Facebook on Wednesday

Petro Poroshenko Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Petro Poroshenko

© Carsten Koall/Getty Images

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Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Trade resigns

KIEV, February 3. /TASS/. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has called on Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivarus Abromavicius to stay on in his post.

"I strongly feel that Aivarus should stay on in his post and continue reforms," Poroshenko posted on Facebook on Wednesday. "He went to think it over. Being an independent agency, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau must investigate all the statements Aivarus Abromavicius made today."

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The Ukrainian president said he had met Abromavicius earlier in the day.

"Aivarus confirmed that throughout his work in the government I had backed all his initiatives on reforms either personally or via the National Council for Reforms," he said underlining that Abromavicius "went to ponder over" his proposal.

Besides, Poroshenko confirmed that Igor Kononenko, a member of parliament from the Poroshenko Bloc party, who Abromavicius had accused of corruption and attempts to obstruct the reforms, was ready to cooperate with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Reports about resignation of Ukraine’s economy minister have provoked a negative response in the West. Ambassadors of the key EU countries, the United States and Canada voiced their disappointment, praising Abromavocius’s "tough but necessary economic reforms." They called on Ukrainian leaders to "set aside their parochial differences" that put the brakes on the country’s growth over decades.

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Ukraine’s corrupt presidential team ejects competent outsiders

Earlier on Wednesday, Abromavicius declared he was stepping down.

Poroshenko had brought Abromavicius from Lithuania to head Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade in December 2014. Upon graduation from Concordia International University, in Estonia, and Concordia University, Wisconsin, the US, with a master’s degree in international business he held positions at the Estonian division of Hansabank and the Swedish investment company East Capital.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko

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