President of Ukraine

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine: The authorities can't get better without the media, and it's better to acknowledge that

12 February 2020 - 12:58

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine: The authorities can't get better without the media, and it's better to acknowledge that

The efforts of the Office of the President of Ukraine should be focused on openness and coordinated work aimed to ensure the effectiveness of the Head of State and the success of the country. "Telephone justice" and intrigues will not be supported, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak noted.

During a briefing at the Office of the President of Ukraine, he thanked Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust and opportunity to work in his team. He also thanked former head of the Office Andriy Bohdan for his contribution to the work.

In addition, Andriy Yermak outlined his guidelines at the post of the Head of the President’s Office.

"The main "speakers" of the Office of the President should be our actions and results ... We must do everything necessary to ensure that the key principle of the Office of the President is a comfortable atmosphere and professional teamwork of like-minded people who respect each other. I will do my best to ensure that there is no "telephone justice" and interference in state processes, no intrigues, that everything is transparent and fair," Andriy Yermak stressed.

He noted that the efforts of the Office’s staff should be focused on coordinated work to ensure the President's effectiveness and the success of the country as a whole.

Also, according to Andriy Yermak, every effort will be made to keep the President's Office as open as possible.

“We admit that there is much to be done in terms of communication. We have a very professional team, and I believe you will see an even higher level of communication at the President's Office soon,” Andriy Yermak stressed.

He also emphasized that pursuant to the instructions of the President,  the Office of the President together with other state institutions will guarantee the freedom of speech and media independence in our country. Andriy Yermak noted that the President was the guarantor of the freedom of speech, so there would be no laws restricting the freedom of speech.

“In almost nine months of my work as Assistant to the President of Ukraine, you have helped us a lot. Sometimes there was criticism - and for that I want to thank you sincerely. If you had not pointed out mistakes, we would not have been able to improve our work every day. The authorities can't get better without the media, and it's better to acknowledge that,” the Head of the President’s Office said.

Answering the question about staff changes at the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak said: “I am a person committed to an effective collective work. Only one day has passed (from the appointment to the post - ed.). I am planning to meet with everyone shortly, to have a conversation. So far I have no plans to substitute someone or make any rotations".