Ukrainian culture minister dismissed amid criticism of undue spending
The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday voted to dismiss the culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, who had come under fire for supporting spending millions of hryvnias not on military aid.
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The decision to dismiss Mr Tkachenko was supported by the overwhelming majority of 321 MPs, one of them, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, posted on Telegram.
He added that a new minister will not likely be appointed this week.
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Earlier this month, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law allocating almost UAH 574 million (USD 15,5 million) for the construction of the Holodomor Museum.
It sparked some outrage and a debate about the appropriateness of such expenditures during the full-scale war as the army’s needs, such as FPV kamikaze drones, reconnaissance UAVs, cars, etc., are not prioritised.
Some other examples included the installation of a trident on the prominent Motherland monument in Kyiv, which cost UAH 28 million (USD 760,000), and the filming of a TV show for UAH 33 million (USD 890,000).
Mr Tkachenko said he believed such expenditures to be appropriate.
Last week, the Ukrainian president said he asked the prime minister to find a new head of the culture ministry, stressing that funds should now be directed to defence needs.