Zelenskyy reveals candidates for new head of Ukraine's Presidential Office

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on December 8 named the candidates for the position of Presidential Office head, following the dismissal of his former chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Report informs referring to The Kyiv Independent.

These include Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's defense minister and previously the longest-serving prime minister, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, Deputy Presidential Office head and ex-commander Pavlo Palisa, and Sergiy Kyslytsya, the first deputy foreign minister and one of Ukraine's key negotiators.

The news comes more than a week after Yermak's resignation on November 28 amid Ukraine's largest corruption scandal, which hit close to the president's inner circle.

Zelenskyy announced the reboot of the Presidential Office in the wake of the investigation. Over the past week, he has met with officials who are being considered as potential Yermak's successors.

"We discussed the work formats of the (Presidential) Office, as well as interaction with other state institutions... A decision regarding the new head of the office will be made in the near future," Zelenskyy said on December 4.

Speaking with journalists in London on December 8, Zelenskyy said the decision is complicated by the need to consider who would take over the candidates' current positions.

"In any case, for some time, I will be able to manage on my own without a head of the office," the president added.