Departures continue from Ukraine executive branch

Minister of Culture and Information Oleksandr
Tkanchenko is expected to resign as minister on Nov. 11, pravda.com.ua reports.
The move comes in protest to a Nov. 10 vote by the Cabinet of Ministers to
remove the State Cinema from the ministry’s remit. Tkanchenko reportedly found
out about the removal after the fact, as he was in Paris at the UNESCO general
conference.

The Cabinet also removed Mykola Chechotkin as head of
the State Emergency Service. Chechotkin had been in the position since 2015. He
will be replaced by the deputy head of the Service, Serhiy Kruk, on an acting
basis.

James Hydzik: This week’s exits do not have the same pathos as recent resignations,
but the case of Tkanchenko bears watching. The separation of a state media
entity from Cabinet control cannot be viewed without suspicion in an
environment where governmental control over media is becoming a frequent topic.