Zelensky allowed that he might get used to running the country without a new head of the Presidential Office

Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on the possible appointment of a new head of the Presidential Office. He said he “could get used to” managing the state without a successor to Andriy Yermak.

The president recorded a voice message on this topic yesterday on the plane on his way from London to Brussels.

In his statement, Zelensky listed all the candidates for the vacant post (Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Kyrylo Budanov, First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa, and First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov), but noted that there are problems with appointing each of them. For example, Shmyhal and Fedorov would have to be removed from their posts by the Verkhovna Rada, but there are concerns that the consequences could be “like in the game Jenga, when you pull out one piece and everything collapses.”

“The Presidential Office is important, but there are other institutions too. The Defense Ministry is now a priority, and I’m not sure the Rada will be able to find candidates. They still can’t find [heads for] the Justice Ministry and the Energy Ministry,” the president said.

Budanov, Kyslytsya, and Palisa, he said, are specialists in their respective fields. Kyslytsya is a professional diplomat and may not want to “waste his time on internal issues,” Palisa understands military matters, and Budanov specializes in intelligence.

“In any case, a choice has to be made, because if this drags on for a long time, I’ll get used to the idea that I can manage on my own without a head of the Office and can live without one, so we need to decide,” Zelensky said.

Let us recall that recently Zelensky promised that a decision on appointing a new head of the Presidential Office would be made in the near future.