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Foreigners leaving government is a negative signal for Poroshenko from West — expert

Ukraine’s Minister of Economy and Trade Aivaras Abromavicius has announced his resignation

Ukraine's Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and Healthcare Minister Alexander Kvitashvili look on as Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius (L-R) speaks at a news conference Maxim Nikitin/TASS

Ukraine's Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and Healthcare Minister Alexander Kvitashvili look on as Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius (L-R) speaks at a news conference

© Maxim Nikitin/TASS

KIEV, February 3. /TASS/. The decision of Ukraine’s Minister of Economy and Trade Aivaras Abromavicius to leave his post is a sign of a conflict with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, and a signal from the West about the deterioration of relations, Andrei Zolotarev head of the Kiev-based analytical Third Sector Centre, said Wednesday.

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Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Trade resigns

"The decision of Abromavicius to resign means that his relationship with the president’s office, including Deputy Head of Petro Poroshenko’s fraction in the Verkhovna Rada Igor Kononenko, are not quite working out. Given that Abramovichus is expatriate and a project involving foreigners in the government began a year ago, his resignation is quite a serious signal to the President that the attitude of external political partners could soon change for the worse," Zolotarev said.

The Ukrainian government has several foreign nationals holding the posts of ministers. Before his appointment, Abromavicius was a Lithuanian businessman. Ukraine’s Minister of Healthcare Alexander Kvitashvili is from Georgia, who had also tried to resign earlier, but the Verkhovna Rada did not support his decision. American-born Natalie Jaresko holds the post of Ukraine's Minister of Finance.

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