Ex-Minister of Ecology Shevchenko intends to participate in presidential elections
KYIV. Nov 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources (2014-2015), Ihor Shevchenko, has announced his intention to nominate himself for the next presidential elections in Ukraine in 2019.
"I, Shevchenko Ihor Anatoliyovych ... I'd like to announce my intention to run for the presidential elections in 2019,” he said at a press conference in the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
The ex-minister announced the main provisions that his election program would contain. In particular, the future presidential candidate is in favor of introducing a presumption of guilt in criminal proceedings related to corruption crimes, as well as a tax on withdrawn capital and a tax on luxury.
He noted that he would finance the presidential campaign on his own, but announced his intention to ask for financial assistance from the business.
At the same time, Shevchenko added that he is ready to refuse to participate in the elections if a new candidate appears who "better meets the requirements" than he does.
"I'd like now to turn to Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, Volodymyr Zelensky, Michel Tereshchenko, Dmytro Hnap, Yuriy Derevianko and Oleksandr Shevchenko. I suggest you getting together, discarding your ambitions, putting your biographies on the table, talking about your competence, experience, and choosing not the most rated among us, but the worthiest, the most professional candidate," the ex-minister said.
In addition, answering questions about his relationship with the runaway MP and businessman Oleksandr Onyshchenko, Shevchenko told about the personal patronage of the deputy when he was appointed the minister in 2014. At the same time, the future candidate noted that he currently communicates with Onyshchenko about once a month via Facebook, and also assured that the MP and businessman would not finance his election campaign.