Vladimir Groisman promises to create a Ministry of Crimean Affairs
The newly appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine, Vladimir Groisman, said that his government will increase attention on the issue of the return of annexed by Russia Crimea under the control of Ukraine.
"Another issue that the new government will pay extra attention to is a complexity of problems related to the return of Crimea and the temporarily occupied areas of Donbas, the restoration of peaceful life on the liberated territories and the return of displaced persons," Groisman said.
According to him, a separate ministry in the Cabinet will be created for this purpose. As explained by the Prime Minister, a specially appointed Deputy Prime Minister will be in charge of this ministry.
On April 14, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted for the new Ukrainian government under the leadership of Vladimir Groisman. 239 deputies voted in favor.
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in early 2014, several new offices and posts were created for managing Crimean issues and old ones were moved to new locations. There is the Permanent Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Kherson region, the Prosecutor's Office of the Crimea under the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, which is now based in Kiev, the State Service for the Crimean and Sevastopol Affairs under the government of Ukraine and the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Crimea located in Odessa. The office of the Commissioner for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatar people, which is headed by Mustafa Dzhemilev, was also created by the President of Ukraine.