President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed businessman Ihor Shevchenko head of the Cherkasy regional state administration.
"I hope this person will be decent. Because everyone is decent until they become officials, then they turn indecent," Zelenskyy said at a meeting in Cherkasy.
He said that Shevchenko would need some time to get the lay of the land but threatened that he might be "replaced if something goes wrong".
Shevchenko did not make any speech.
He owns Light Export Plus Ltd, a poultry company, and Hermes-Shevchenko Igor registered in Italy.
The regional administration's previous head, Oleksandr Velbyvets, was dismissed on 24 June.