Key presidential officials Tatarov and Kovaliv depart office

Oleh Tatarov, the deputy head of the President’s
Office suspected of bribery, submitted a request for a leave of absence on Dec.
21. The request was submitted “in relation to the significant societal tumult
and to avoid any manipulative interpretations,” as reported by the
pravda.com.ua news site, which cited a President’s Office spokesman. It was
also done to avoid a conflict of interest and any pressure on law enforcement
bodies, he said.

The same day, Tatarov visited the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau with his lawyers in response to a summons. He issued a
statement on his Telegram channel denying corruption accusations against him,
claiming the evidence was fabricated by NABU director Artem Sytnyk. “The
materials of the case against me turned out to be entirely falsified regarding
the alleged discount on a parking space given by me to an expert of the
forensics institute four years ago during my period of work as a lawyer,”
Tatarov said.

Also the same day, Yulia Kovaliv, another deputy head
of the President’s Office, submitted her resignation. She oversaw economics and
investment, serving a total of 15 months. She also serves as deputy head of the
supervisory board of state natural gas monopoly Naftogaz. “This was an
unbelievable experience and enormous responsibility in a complicated time for
the country,” she wrote on her Facebook page. In response, the President’s
Office issued a statement that Kovaliv made a significant contribution to
Ukraine’s economic development. She will return to Naftogaz and continue to
serve as an adviser to the president, the pravda.com.ua news site said, citing
a source in the President’s Office.

Zenon Zawada: Regarding
Tatarov, we are confident he submitted his leave request only at the order of
the president. And we are confident Zelensky asked Tatarov to take leave only
at the request of Western officials, who seem to have acted behind the scenes.
We expected the West wouldn’t tolerate Tatarov working for Zelensky, and it
will be another scandal if he ever returns. This is possible with a leave of
absence, as opposed to a resignation.

It’s quite revealing that the scandalous Tatarov is
only taking leave (as opposed to resigning), while the widely respected Kovaliv
is departing altogether. We believe this reflects the growing public
association of Zelensky with corruption more than pro-Western reforms. Talented
Western-oriented specialists have been avoiding being directly involved with
the Zelensky administration (and will continue to do so), while scandalous
personas like Tatarov will continue to be drawn to it.