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Scoop of the day: Ukrainian interior minister resigns

Scoop of the day: Ukrainian interior minister resigns

Interior minister

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has tendered his resignation letter. Avakov, the only minister who has held the post since 2014, thanked his team "for years of joint work".

Parliament will discuss his resignation on Thursday, 15 July.

Exclusive: Following a closed meeting of the pro-presidential Servant of the People faction, which was attended by the president, Denys Monastyrskyy, head of the parliamentary committee on law enforcement and a potential replacement for Avakov, said that MPs would consider his nomination on Friday. He described his agreement to head the Interior Ministry as "the most difficult decision" of his life. He added that he had not talked to Avakov, only the president.

Exclusive: Sources in the Servant of the People faction told LB.ua that Monastyrskyy was nominated by President Zelenskyy.

Medical cannabis

Parliament has refused to pass the bill that would legalise medical cannabis in Ukraine in the first reading. It only scored 184 out of the minimum of 226 votes.

The failure to pass the bill has prompted criticism among aid workers and public activists.

China

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone exhcnaged greetings on the establishment of bilateral strategic partnership and confirmed mutual resolve to develop and deepen it, Zelenskyy's office has said.

Protest

Donbas war veterans, volunteers, activists and European Solidarity MPs have held a rally outside the presidential office, demanding the release of Gen Ihor Pavlovskyy and the Kuznya na Rybalskomu shipyard management. Both are suspects in the case on the supply of poor-quality boats to the Ukrainian army.

Putin's article

Facebook has briefly deleted a post by the Ukrainian ambassador to the Czech Republic, Yevhen Perebyynis, with criticism of Putin's article on Ukraine. "What one nation? What brothers? Judging by how determined and cold-blooded they have been when they have destroyed us for several centuries, we are not even relatives. Normal people do not kill relatives," Perebyynis's post reads.

Antimonopoly Committee

Parliament gave the first reading to the bill on changes to the operation of the Antimonopoly Committee. According to MP Pavlo Frolov, the bill allows the AC to engage police in their inspections; gives it the right not to investigate the cases that do not meet its own criteria; and excerpts the AC from overseeing the purchase of TV channels and other assets.

The National Agency for Preventing Corruption previously criticized the bill.

Cyber security

The state special commuications agency has said that it has neutralized another series of DDoS attacks on the official websites of the Ukrainian president and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Ukroboronprom

Parliament has passed the bill under which the state-owned defence concern Ukroboronprom will become a state-owned joint-stock company.

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