Razumkov spoke about the root causes of the split with Zelensky

30 January 14:31

The differences between Dmytro Razumkov and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arose much earlier than the appearance of the law on oligarchs (which is often linked to the alleged causes of the conflict between politicians, ed.), and were primarily related to approaches to decision-making and compliance with parliamentary procedures.

This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" by the head of the interfactional deputy association “Smart Politics,” former Verkhovna Rada speaker Dmytro Razumkov.

According to Razumkov, the first public disagreements with the president’s team arose at the start of the new parliament’s work, when the format for passing laws was being discussed.

“My position was very simple: if we want people to obey the laws, we cannot adopt them in violation of the Constitution and the regulations of the Verkhovna Rada,” the politician said.

He explained that at that time he proposed to spread the adoption of a large package of laws over time in order to ensure their quality and legitimacy. This approach, according to him, was supported by a significant part of the Servant of the People faction.

“At that time, two-thirds of the Servant of the People faction voted in favor of Razumkov’s proposal,” he said.

Separately, Razumkov commented on the topic of so-called “anti-oligarch” legislation, emphasizing that his position was not to reject the very idea of de-oligarchization, but to choose effective and proven mechanisms.

“I spoke about the need to use tools that already work in democratic countries: antitrust and anti-corruption legislation and transparent lobbying rules,” he explained.

The politician also recalled that he insisted on involving international expertise in the assessment of legislative initiatives, in particular through the Venice Commission, considering this to be normal European practice.

“This does not prohibit the adoption of laws, but allows them to be improved in parallel and avoids risks in the future,” Razumkov added.

According to him, the differences with the presidential team were due to different views on approaches to public administration, rather than one specific legislative initiative.