Odesa City Council secretary takes over as acting mayor

Anastasia Protz - 16 October, 11:47

Ihor Koval. Photo: Facebook of Ihor Koval

Odesa City Council Secretary Ihor Koval has taken over as acting mayor of Odesa as of 16 October, following the revocation of Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov's Ukrainian citizenship.

Source: instruction released on the official website of the Odesa City Council

Details: The document states that the decision has been made under Article 42.2 of the Law of Ukraine On Local Self-Government in Ukraine. It stipulates that in the event of early termination of a mayor's powers or their absence, the duties of the mayor shall be performed by the city council secretary.

For reference: Ihor Koval was born in 1955.

In 2020, he was elected to the Odesa City Council of the 8th convocation from the Servant of the People political party (list No. 5, constituency No. 5).

In 2015, he ran for the city council from the European Solidarity party (majoritarian constituency No. 35) but was not elected.

In 2002, he stood as a candidate for the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) of the 4th convocation from the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) but did not succeed.

Background:

On 14 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he signed a decree concerning certain "individuals who have been found to hold Russian citizenship", without naming names.
However, Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster, confirmed via government sources that former Odesa mayor Hennadii Trukhanov was among those concerned.
Hennadii Trukhanov had served as Odesa mayor since 2014, when the first reports emerged alleging that he held Russian citizenship. Under Ukraine's law on local self-government, loss of citizenship is grounds for the early termination of a mayor's powers.
Trukhanov has denied holding Russian citizenship and called the decision to strip him of Ukrainian citizenship a "falsification". He says he will file a lawsuit in court.
The Security Service of Ukraine later stated that Trukhanov has been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship because he is a citizen of Russia and holds a valid passport of the Russian Federation.
On 15 October, Zelenskyy appointed Serhii Lysak, the current head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, as the head of Odesa City Military Administration.
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine believes that Trukhanov's powers will be terminated once the Odesa City Council receives the presidential decree on his loss of citizenship, and the duties of mayor will be performed by the council's secretary.

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