Zelensky facing problems with changing defense minister as it is lucrative post — diplomat

Zelensky facing problems with changing defense minister as it is lucrative post — diplomat Rodion Miroshnik separately said that Vladimir Zelensky wanted to get rid of the now former prime minister, Yulia Sviridenko, as she "wouldn’t be able to get anything new from the "Western partners" Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at Large Rodion Miroshnik© Pavel Seleznev/TASSMOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. The post of defense minister has become a stumbling block in the process of forming a new government in Ukraine simply because the defense sector is where most of the money is, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at Large Rodion Miroshnik said. "Why has the confrontation escalated specifically in the military sphere? Because this is the most important area of all. This is where the biggest money is, this is where the greatest influence lies, and this is where political ratings are their highest," he told TASS. According to the diplomat, Vladimir Zelensky wanted not only to replace Mikhail Fyodorov but also to get rid of the now former prime minister, Yulia Sviridenko. "He thought he had squeezed everything out of her, and that she is simply of no interest any longer. She wouldn’t be able to get anything new from the ‘Western partners’ - this prime minister has got tired, and a new one is needed. He was preparing to get rid of a number of those who were involved in or linked to the ‘Mindichgate’ to distance himself from the appointees of [former Zelensky’s office chief] Andrey Yermak, who, of course, is a friend too, but it’s better to have nothing to do with his appointees and appoint someone else. In other words, these were the issues he was resolving through the government rotation," Miroshnik explained. The high-profile investigation conducted by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) that was dubbed Mindichgate after businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of Vladimir Zelensky, who was identified as the coordinator of large-scale corruption schemes, has led to the resignation of Zelensky’s office head Andrey Yermak, causing a temporary collapse of the parliament’s work. Meanwhile, it was reported that the investigation into corruption schemes would continue, especially in the area of defense purchases. 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