Kyiv City Council accepts Chernovetsky

The Kyiv City Council accepted the resignation of Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky yesterday. Chernovetsky was elected mayor in 2006 and re-elected in a snap election in 2008. Following eccentric policies that earned him the nickname “Cosmos” and his implication in a land grab scheme, he was largely sidelined after President Viktor Yanukovych’s appointment of Oleksandr Popov as head of the city administration in November 2010 left Chernovetsky as little more than a figurehead.

Brad Wells: Yesterday’s vote in the city council was mostly a formality, and will have no bearing on the management of the city, which is firmly controlled by Popov and his entourage now. Chernovetsky’s exit though does set the stage for a new mayoral election in Kyiv by yearend.