First Deputy Chief of Ukraine's Presidential Secretariat and ex-Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has said that he might be reinstated as defense minister in line with a court ruling.
“I lodged an appeal at court, and the court is considering this issue,” he said on Channel 5 late on Thursday.
Asked whether he is planning to return to the post of Ukraine’s defense minister, Yekhanurov said: “Yes.”
He also denied reports in the media that the president may nominate
Interior Troops Commander Oleksandr Kikhtenko as defense minister.
“These reports are untrue,” Yekhanurov said.
As reported, the Ukrainian parliament dismissed Yekhanurov on June
5, 2009. The resolution said that the minister’s dismissal was linked
to numerous violations with illegal operations with special equipment
used to dismantle nuclear weapon storage facilities.
Yekhanurov attempted to challenge this decision at Kyiv District
Administrative Court, but to no effect. Later, he said he would lodge
an appeal against the court’s decision.
Yekhanurov was appointed Ukraine’s defense minister on December 18,
2007. He was Ukraine’s prime minister from September 2005 to August
2006.
