13 October 2014
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed an Oct. 12 decree dismissing Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey, whose nomination was approved by parliament on July 3. The president said he will submit today a nomination for Heletey’s replacement, which he hopes will be approved by parliament in tomorrow’s session. In late September, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko accused him of being responsible of selling arms for personal profit, alleging some clients to be separatist forces. Heletey filed a slander complaint in response.
Zenon Zawada: For Poroshenko to dismiss a member of his entourage – to whom he is notoriously loyal – so quickly means that Heletey failed severely to live up to expectations and was under intense criticism. Indeed for weeks, Heletey was being widely criticized among Ukraine’s politicians and activists for his failures since his appointment, which included neglecting to stem alleged corruption in the military, to boost domestic military production and to account for strategic military losses (particularly the Ilovaisk disaster, resulting in hundreds of deaths).
Heletey’s appointment will be viewed as one of Poroshenko’s biggest mistakes in his first 100 days in office. Rather than appointing someone with a career in the military, Poroshenko tapped someone from his entourage who had minimal military experience. Poroshenko needs to forego his entourage for recruiting his governing team and start selecting officials who have the skills, experience and character to govern, particularly in the sensitive military matters.