Kyiv Oblast Governor Volodymyr Shandra is unable to sort out his dismissals or his future, yet-to-be-appointed deputies. While his former first deputy, Anna Starikova, is trying to prove the illegality of her dismissal in court, her former boss is ordering the regional state administration press center staff to keep the list of candidates for his two currently vacant deputy positions secret.
Tomorrow, the Kyiv Regional Court of Appeals will hold a hearing in the case of former First Deputy Governor of the Kyiv Region, Anna Starikova. Starikova herself told KV that she is certain that the head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration had no authority to issue the order for her dismissal. The alleged reason for her dismissal was the expiration of her employment contract, but, as the "victim" previously noted, there was no employment contract at all.
As a reminder, Governor Volodymyr Shandra signed the order to dismiss his first deputy, Anna Starikova, who was appointed to this post under the Batkivshchyna quota, at the end of September last year.
The court of first instance dismissed Anna Starikova's claim, and the details of the case itself and the governor's seemingly out-of-nowhere hostility toward the plaintiff remained a secret from the media.
Meanwhile, Shandra has yet to appoint any new deputies following Ms. Starikova's dismissal. As a reminder, KV previously reported on potential candidates for the high-ranking positions of first deputy head of the regional state administration and deputy for social and humanitarian issues. Some of those under discussion allegedly already worked in the offices of the administrative building on Lesia Ukrainka Square as "illegal immigrants." Among them is Volodymyr Shandra's associate Andriy Selsky, who has worked with the current governor since his days as head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Also on the list is businessman Valeriy Kondruk, a former deputy to four former Kyiv Oblast governors: Yevhen Zhovtyak, Vira Ulyanchenko, Viktor Vakaras, and Anatoliy Prysyazhnyuk.
Rumor has it that in early autumn last year, he took a liking to the first deputy's office and volunteered to work in the administration. The most likely candidate for the high post next to the governor was the current head of the Kyiv Region BPP, Lev Partskhaladze (or one of his protégés), who, like Kondruk, occupies an office on the eighth floor of the Regional State Administration building and is actively involved in party activities.
However, the offices of the First Deputy Governor and Deputy Governor for Social and Humanitarian Issues remain officially empty, despite fervent promises from high-ranking Regional State Administration officials to resolve this issue immediately after the appointment of the new Cabinet of Ministers.
When KV asked whether any official appointments had been made following the Cabinet of Ministers' changes, the Kyiv Regional State Administration press service declined to respond for nearly two weeks, citing holidays and management vacations, as well as Governor Shandra's busy schedule.
However, recently, the Regional State Administration's leadership instructed its press service to convey that candidates for his deputy positions had long been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration, but they allegedly "haven't gotten around to it yet." The Regional State Administration is tactfully keeping silent about who was submitted for Cabinet approval, citing either politeness or a desire not to jinx it: "The Cabinet of Ministers and the Presidential Administration will misunderstand us if this information becomes public," the governor's press service told KV. Meanwhile, while the unappointed officials are "lying low" in the Cabinet of Ministers, the governor himself must manage the region's affairs surrounded by two deputies and meekly await the verdict of his senior officials.
Oksana Melnik, KyivVlast
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