Ukrainian prime minister resigns after recordings published

Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk speaks during a media briefing in Kiev on January 8, 2020. Honcharuk his resignation after he was caught in a recording saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy knew nothing about the economy. AFP

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s prime minister says he has submitted his resignation, days after he was caught on tape saying the country’s president knows nothing about the economy.

In a Facebook post Friday, Oleksiy Honcharuk said that he has given his resignation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“I took this post to implement the president’s program. He is an example of transparency and decency to me,” he said.

“However, in order to dispel any doubts about our respect and trust for the president, I have written a resignation letter and submitted it to the president for introduction to parliament,” Honcharuk’s statement read.

Earlier this week an audio recording surfaced in which Honcharuk appeared to make disparaging comments about Zelenskiy’s understanding of economics.