President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko during a visit to Odesa region has said he decided to appoint Maksym Stepanov as a new Head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, who won the competition for occupying the post at the end of 2016.

"Today I have decided to appoint a person, who won the competition for occupying the post of the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Maksym Stepanov," Poroshenko said during the introduction of the new head of the Odesa Regional State Administration to the region's leaders in Odessa on Thursday afternoon.

The president said he sets high hopes on Stepanov, especially in those areas where the previous management of the Odesa Regional State Administration failed to achieve the results.

In particular, the president has called on a new head of the regional administration to promote business development in the region, creation of workplaces, ensure the fight against crime in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office, the Security Service and the police.

Poroshenko particularly asked Stepanov to keep operating the center of administrative services opened by former Head of the state administration Mikheil Saakashvili.

The president also asked the deputies, officials of various departments, entrepreneurs and security forces officers help and support the new leadership of the Odesa Regional State Administration.

In late December 2016, Stepanov, occupying the post of Director of state-run Ukraina Polygraph Combine printing and publishing plant, won the contest for the post of the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration. Once the results had been announced on the air of the 'First City's' Odesa TV channel, Stepanov said that he would start with the "restoration of manageability of the region." Among the priorities in his work he called the development of the tourism potential of the region, the fight against crime, the development of the regional economy as a whole.

On December 21 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the appointment of Stepanov as the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration.

Stepanov has experience in a number of commercial structures, including in Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the State Tax Administration of Ukraine. From 2008 until 2010 he had been serving as the deputy head of the Odessa Regional State Administration. Since 2011 he had been managing the state-run Ukraina Polygraph Combine printing and publishing plant which specializes in printing passports, driving licenses, excise stamps, etc.

As reported, on November 7, 2016 Mikheil Saakashvili announced his resignation as head of the Odesa Regional Administration. He said that he was leaving his post because he was tired of constant deception and corruption, including from authorities in Kyiv. On November 9 the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers authorized the dismissal of Saakashvili from the post of the head of Odesa Regional State Administration.

In the evening on November 9, Poroshenko dismissed Mikheil Saakashvili from his post and from the post of non-regular advisor to the president of Ukraine.

Since then the region had been governed by Deputy Head of the Odesa Regional State Administration Solomia Bobrovska.