Poroshenko sees direct elections of regional administration heads as threat to Ukraine's federalization

16:21, 03.02.2016 1 min read

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said he is not contemplating the possibility of elections for the heads of regional state administration, seeing it as a direct path to federalization.

During the introduction of the new head of the Kyiv region, Maksym Melnychuk, in Kyiv on Wednesday, the president said that a few days ago, Kyiv city councilor asked him to contemplate such a possibility.

"A very odd request. First of all, this is a direct step towards federalization, which I will not allow to happen," the president said.

Ukraine had an unfortunate experience in the 1990s, he added.

He recalled that he introduced in parliament draft constitutional changes, proposing to eliminate the institution of regional administration heads and implement decentralization with a transfer of power to local authorities.