The Cabinet of Ministers has ruled out the cancellation of local elections due to the increase in COVID-19 cases. This was stated by Minister of Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
When asked whether mayors, heads of united territorial communities and heads of regional administrations are interested in the possible postponement of local elections, Chernyshov answered briefly: "No, we have not received such proposals".
According to Chernyshov, this issue is also not discussed within the Cabinet of Ministers. "No, there are no such questions yet. Of course, we proceed from the true picture that we have. But local elections will be held on October 25. They will be held according to a new administrative and territorial structure, which is the result of the first stage of the decentralization reform, in which we took an active part", - he noted.
To a clarifying question about whether the Cabinet of Ministers admits the possibility of postponement of the elections when the epidemiological situation in the country worsens, he replied that "everything works out well".
"Everything works out well, we rely on our own estimates. Now we are not talking about a lockdown. The elections will be soon, in three weeks", - Oleksiy Chernyshov stressed.
As previously reported, 244 734 cases of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 were recorded in Ukraine as of October 8. 5397 people fell ill over the past day. Head of the Ministry of Health Maksym Stepanov stated on October 8 that Ukraine now cannot follow the path of some European countries and enforce a strict quarantine.