Serhiy Koretsky, whose candidacy for the post of Prime Minister is being heard by the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday, confirms plans to separate the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food from the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture, into which it was merged a year ago.
"I also want to emphasize the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, which should still be a self-sufficient, weighty unit of the government," he said in a speech to parliament, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.
In response to questions, Koretsky clarified that he would propose Taras Vysotsky for the position of minister, who was the first deputy and acting Minister of Agrarian Policy before the department was merged into the Ministry of Economy.
Regarding the possibility of restoring the Ministry of Ecology, the Prime Minister candidate said that he realizes the importance of ecology and environmental protection as a major component of the European integration path.
"The only reason why at the moment there was no possibility to present a distribution option is that a little more time is needed to formulate clear goals, tasks, and a person who can head it. I am sure that there are a large number of professional people, but it takes time. With the agricultural ministry, there was 100% certainty," Koretsky said.
According to him, separating the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is the first part of splitting the Ministry of Economy, "because the ministry was really overloaded with functionality."
