Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko believes that Aivaras Abromavicius must remain in the post of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

"I have met and talked to Aivaras Abromavicius. [...] Aivaras confirmed that he enjoyed my full support of his reform initiatives during all his time in the government, both directly and through the National Reform Council. On my part, such support is also guaranteed in future. I believe that Aivaras must remain the minister and go on with reforms. He's gone to think it over," Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page late on Wednesday.

Ukraine's National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) must investigate the facts aired by the minister on Wednesday, Poroshenko said. "Ihor Kononenko has contacted the NABU and said that he is ready to cooperate with it. The administration of this state agency revealed this. The sooner society gets answers to the questions raised, the better," Poroshenko explained.

The President recalled that earlier he personally invited Abromavicius to work in the team of Ukrainian reformers and then granted him Ukrainian citizenship and addressed the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in the Verkhovna Rada with the proposal to promote him to the post of the economic development minister.

According to earlier reports, Abromavicius told a briefing conference in Kyiv on Wednesday that he had decided to resign amid the lack of support and due to the intense resistance to the reforms pursued by his team.