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Russian former health minister Mikhail Zurabov expected to be appointed an ambassador to Ukraine

22 June 2009 10:00 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Russian former health minister and current presidential adviser Mikhail Zurabov expected to be appointed as Russian ambassador to Ukraine, Kommersant newspaper said, APA reports. Sources close to Kremlin confirmed the report saying that the decision was made three months ago. Zurabov refused to make announcement.

The Foreign Ministry said it was surprised with the reports about Zurabovâ€™s appointment, which faced with a protest by the State Duma. The Foreign Ministry said the appointment of the ambassador was not within its authority and called it a strange decision. Deputy Chairman of the Duma CIS Committee Konstantin Zatulin said Zurabovâ€™s appointment is a wrong decision. â€œHe is not a political figure, but manager and furthermore he is an unpopular personâ€. Zatulin said the ambassador to Ukraine must be a person freely expressing his opinion due to the presidential elections in that country. â€œChernomyrdin didnâ€™t meet these requirements, but Zurabov is worse than him. US and Polandâ€™s embassies provide intensive activity in Kiev. If our ambassador keeps silence, it will be unintelligible for everyone. Zurabov has no diplomatic experienceâ€.