Agrarian Minister Solskyi files resignation letter

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine received a resignation letter from the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyi.

This was announced by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk on Facebook, reports Ukrinform.

"The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has received a resignation statement from Mykola Solskyi, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine," he said.

The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament assured that the statement will be considered at one of the nearest plenary meetings.

As reported earlier, on April 23, the National Anti-corruption Bureau announced that the law enforcement had exposed the sitting minister for seizing state land worth UAH 291 million and attempting to seize land worth another UAH 190 million.

The head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Mykola Solskyi, commenting on the charges pressed against him, noted that the events relate to the period of 2017-2018, when he was a lawyer and was neither Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, nor Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.

According to him, the seven-year-old case relate to a dispute between state-owned enterprises and individuals, in particular ATO fighters, over land plots given to the latter in possession in accordance with the law.

He stated that disputes are resolved by courts, including the Supreme Court, and that, as far as he knows, a number of rulings state that government-owned enterprises have no right to land, which is likely what NABU is referring to.

On April 24, the High Anti-corruption Court of Ukraine started to select a preventive measure against Solskyi.