Former Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Miklos will head a group of support for reform under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
"The government will set up a special core, which will include a group of professionals whom we will announce next week. We have a tentative agreement that this group will be headed by Ivan Miklos. This group will provide support for reforms," Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman said.
Previously it was rumoured that Miklos would head the Finance Ministry, but his Slovak citizenship got in the way. Miklos agreed to enter the Ukrainian government, but refused to change his citizenship. To meet this requirement, parliament worked out a bill allowing foreigners to work in the government. This initiative ignited protests among lawmakers so Miklos eventually declined the ministerial post
Miklos was the minister of privatization in Slovakia in 1991-92, a deputy prime minister and the minister of economy in 1998-2002, the finance minister in 2002-06 and in 2010-12, and a member of the Slovak parliament in 2006-10.
Since February 2015, Miklos has been an adviser to Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and Economic Development Minister Aivaras Abromavičius. In May 2015, he along with the head of the investment company Dragon Capital, Tomasz Fiala, and musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk registered a think tank NGO, the Centre for Economic Strategy.