Razumkov spoke about the root causes of the rift with Zelensky

30 January 14:31

YOUTUBE

Disagreements between Dmytro Razumkov and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arose well before the introduction of the “oligarchs” bill (which is often cited as the alleged cause of the conflict between the politicians—Ed.), and were primarily related to approaches to decision-making and adherence to parliamentary procedures.

Dmytro Razumkov, head of the inter-factional deputy group “Smart Politics” and former Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, spoke about this in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".

According to Razumkov, the first public disagreements with the president’s team arose at the very 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 pass them in violation of the Constitution and the Verkhovna Rada’s rules of procedure,” the politician noted.

He explained that at the time, he proposed spreading out the adoption of a large package of laws over time to ensure their quality and legitimacy. This approach, he said, was supported by a significant portion 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 so-called “anti-oligarchic” 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, as well as transparent lobbying rules,” he explained.

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

“This does not prevent the adoption of laws, but allows for their simultaneous improvement and helps avoid risks in the future,” Razumkov added.

According to him, the disagreements with the presidential team stemmed from differing visions of approaches to public administration, rather than from any one specific legislative initiative.