Kiev: Ukraine’s Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk Friday tendered his resignation after a leaked audio recording apparently revealed him criticising President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A voice sounding like Honcharuk’s, but not officially confirmed as his, says President Zelensky, a TV comedian and businessman who was elected last April, only has a “primitive” understanding of economics, reports the BBC.
“To remove any doubts in our respect for and trust in the President, I have written a resignation letter and submitted it to the president with the right to hand it to the Parliament,” Honcharuk, 35, made the announcement on his official Facebook page.
“He is a man in whom Ukrainians have expressed unprecedented confidence. And he has every right to evaluate the effectiveness of every member of his team.”
The presidential office said Zelensky had received the resignation and would consider it, reports Xinhua news agency.
The controversial audiotape was uploaded to an anonymous YouTube channel on Wednesday evening. Honcharuk was apparently discussing the national budget with some other government ministers and finance chiefs.