The President Petro Poroshenko signed the Decree on appointing of Borys Babin as the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Order on appointing of Izet Hdanov as the First Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea.

The President Petro Poroshenko signed the Decree on appointing of Borys Babin as the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Earlier, Nataliia Popovych was dismissed from this post by the Decree.

The President noted that after meeting with the Authorized Representative of the President of Ukraine in the affairs of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemiliev and the Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov instructed to carefully analyze the activities of the Representative Office in the Crimea. “Unfortunately, the facts that were transferred to me by public activists, representatives of the Mejlis, were largely confirmed. This gave rise to the decision on the necessary personnel actions” – the Head of State said.

Petro Poroshenko stressed that Borys Babin has extensive experience and professional juridical specialization, particular in international law. According to the words of the Head of State, during his work in the Ministry of Justice in the field of human rights, including in cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights and on the issue of protecting the rights of settlers he has shown himself as the best specialist.

 “At the same time, I believe that in the structure of the Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea there should be a separate post with the corresponding status, so that the issue of protecting the rights of the Crimean Tatar people remains its first priority. Therefore, he instructed to prepare amendments to the Decree concerning the activities of the Representative Office of the President in Crimea, where we assign these responsibilities to the first deputy” – the Head of State emphasized.

The President Petro Poroshenko signed the the Order on appointing of Izet Hdanov as the First Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea.

The Head of State stressed that the Permanent Representative of the President in Crimea will take part in the working group in regard to the de-occupation of the peninsula. “Restoring of Ukrainian sovereignty over the temporarily occupied Ukrainian Crimea is one of our first tasks” – Petro Poroshenko said.

Also, according to the words of the President, amendments to the Constitution should be prepared qualitatively. “We will intensify the work of the working group, and in the near future I would like the draft amendments to the Constitution from these positions presented as soon as possible in the Verkhovna Rada” – Petro Poroshenko said.

The President also called for the protection of the rights of people who have suffered as a result of the illegal annexation of the Crimea. “Here I rely on your experience. I hope that you will be involved in active and responsible work from the very first days” – the Head of State addressed to Izet Hdanov.

In addition, the President focused on the legal protection of state interests in the occupied Crimea. We are talking about confiscated state property, legal protection in international courts, the coordination of activities of Ukrainian business entities, individuals who have lost their property.

“I do not see any possibility to drag out these. I expect productive, effective, state work from the first days” – the Head of State summed up.

The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, thanked the President for his reaction to the public appeal to the Head of State regarding the activities of the Representative Office of the President in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

“I am convinced that among a number of state bodies, the Representative Office of the President in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea will take one of the main places and its activities will be aimed at de-occupation and returning of Crimea” – he said.

The Head of the Mejlis mentioned that knows personally Borys Babin and noted that he is a well-known lawyer dealing with many issues of Crimea. Refat Chubarov wished the new Permanent Representative of the President in Crimea and its First Deputy for successful work.