PM offers to quit after audio leaked

KIEV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to reject his prime minister’s resignation after Oleksiy Honcharuk offered to leave the government because of a scandal over a leaked recording that showed his criticism of the president’s knowledge of the economy.

The newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli reported Mr Zelensky’s decision, citing people in the president’s office it didn’t name.

Audio was leaked of Mr Honcharuk reportedly criticising President Volodomyr Zelensky’s understanding of the economy.

“To remove any doubts about our respect for and trust in the president, I have written a resignation letter and handed it over to the president,” Mr Honcharuk wrote on Facebook.

He said the audio “artificially created an impression that my team and I do not respect the president”.

“This is not true,” he said. “I came to this post to carry out the president’s programme.”

The alleged recording, which emerged this week, came from an informal December meeting between ministers and senior officials from the National Bank.

According to local media reports, the participants discussed how to explain recent economic developments to Mr Zelensky, a comedian and political neophyte who won a surprise election victory last year.

Mr Honcharuk, 35, is reportedly heard saying that explanations need to be simple because “Zelensky has a very primitive understanding of the economy.”