Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected his prime minister’s offer to resign, and asked him to stay on in the job.
Mr Honcharuk submitted his resignation days after he was caught on tape saying Mr Zelenskiy knows nothing about the economy.
In a video released by Mr Zelenskiy’s office on Friday evening, the president said he decided to “give a chance” to Mr Honcharuk and his Cabinet.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected his prime minister’s offer to resign, and asked him to stay on in the job.
Mr Honcharuk submitted his resignation days after he was caught on tape saying Mr Zelenskiy knows nothing about the economy.
In a video released by Mr Zelenskiy’s office on Friday evening, the president said he decided to “give a chance” to Mr Honcharuk and his Cabinet.
Ukraine’s president fears prompting a political crisis in the country by doing it and does not want to complicate his relationship with foreign investors and the International Monetary Fund, said Volodymyr Sidenko, an analyst with the Razumkov Centre think tank.
“Honcharuk’s resignation can destroy the idea of the government’s unity and cast a doubt on Zelenskiy’s ability to control the situation,” Mr Sidenko said.
Earlier this week, an audio recording surfaced in which Mr Honcharuk appeared to make disparaging comments about Mr Zelenskiy’s understanding of economics.
He called Mr Zelenskiy “a layman” in economics and said the president should be better educated about the national currency.
Mr Zelenskiy is a 41-year-old former comedian whose only political experience before his election last spring consisted of playing a Ukrainian president on TV.
He starred in Servant Of The People as a high school history teacher who is propelled to the highest office after his rant against government corruption goes viral.
Mr Honcharuk said that the recording was a compilation of “fragments of recorded government meetings,” and he blamed unidentified “influential groups” for making it look as if he did not respect the president.
“It is not true,” the prime minister insisted.
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