Ukrainian prime minister resigns over leaked recordings

On Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Alexei Goncharuk submitted his resignation after publishing statements attributed to him, criticizing President Vladimir Zelinsky’s understanding of the economy.

"In order to remove all doubts about our respect and our confidence towards the President, I wrote my letter of resignation and handed it over to the President," Goncharuk wrote on his Facebook page.

Commenting on the statements sparked by the publication of a political crisis in Ukraine, Goncharuk wrote that "its content artificially created the idea that I and my team do not respect the president. This matter is incorrect. I reached this position to implement the president's program."

The Ukrainian Presidency confirmed that it had received the letter of resignation, and indicated that it would be "studied".

Recordings this week were released as from an informal meeting on December 16 between ministers and officials of the central bank.

According to Ukrainian media, the meeting's participants will discuss how to explain the president's economic decisions.

Goncharock says in these remarks, the explanation should be simple because "Zielinski already has a rudimentary understanding of the economy."