Zakarpattia governor concedes defeat in war on tobacco mafia, wants to resign

Head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Hennadiy Moskal has conceded defeat in the fight against the tobacco mafia in the region and asked Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to tender his resignation request with President Petro Poroshenko, according to an announcement on Moskal`s official website.
”I see no point in remaining in office as head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration. Therefore, I ask you to use your constitutional right under Article 118 of the Constitution of Ukraine and send the president of Ukraine a motion initiating my resignation,” the announcement said on Friday, May 6.
Moskal says that there are all signs that the situation, which caused bloodshed in the west-Ukrainian town of Mukacheve on July 11, 2015, may repeat.
”I cannot be a passive onlooker. It is impossible to fight against smuggling in a separate region when the central agencies not only do nothing to help but on the contrary, they are trying to re-establish shadow schemes. The government has lost control of the situation with illegal production of amber, drug and arms trafficking, the crime rate and other destructive processes in society,” he said.
”Zakarpattia has been thrown back in the lap of smugglers, and the illegal movement of tobacco across the state border [with the EU] has been green-lit,” he said.
”When we waged war on the smuggling, I was warned of such scenario. Unfortunately, these warnings have become reality,” he said.
Moskal was tapped to head Zakarpattia region on July 15, 2015, after a shooting accident in Mukacheve.
Prior to that, he was governor of Luhansk region twice (from August 2014 to July 2015, in 2005-2006).
In 2001-2002, he also worked as head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration.

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