President Office no longer trying to remove Klitschko, adviser says

The President’s Office is no longer trying to remove
Vitali Klitschko from his post as head of the Kyiv City Administration, Maksym
Bakhmatov, an adviser to the mayor, said in an interview published on Nov. 6 on
the bihus.info news site. Bakhmatov cited recent poll ratings in which
Klitschko’s support has risen in recent months, while support has fallen for
Oleksandr Tkachenko, the People’s Servant MP who is backed by the President’s
Office for the mayorship.

Klitschko has the support of 36.6% of Kyiv residents,
according to a poll of 803 respondents conducted between Oct. 11 and 22 by the
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Tkachenko has 18.0% support, while
political commentator Andriy Palchevskiy has 12.6%. The poll results were
published on Oct. 29.

In a Nov. 6 television interview, Klitschko dismissed
a criminal case opened against him in mid-October for alleged state treason and
theft of state funds that was opened by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of
Ukraine. The complaint was filed by an anonymous person. “I am convinced this
case has no prospects. And it’s very funny to me that state treason is alleged.
Let them perform a review,” said Klitschko, whose wealth was estimated at USD
91 mln by the annual 100 Wealthiest Ukrainians survey conducted by the Novoye
Vremia magazine published last week.

Recall, the Cabinet of Ministers passed a resolution
on Sept. 4 dismissing Klitschko as head of the Kyiv city administration,
which has yet to be followed through. Klitschko has stated the resolution is
illegal. Klitschko was elected as Kyiv city head in local elections held
nationally in 2015, after which he was appointed – as tradition – as head of
the Kyiv city administration.

Zenon Zawada: It looks like Klitschko has survived the campaign by President’s
Office Head Andriy Bohdan to replace him. Any further efforts to remove
Klitschko will be limited to court rulings, which can be endlessly appealed.
With Zelensky’s popularity inevitably falling in the next year, Klitschko is in
a solid position to draw support from some of the disillusioned, particularly
in Kyiv. Klitshcko is on track to being re-elected as Kyiv mayor in 2020.