Arsen Avakov
© Oleh Dubyna/Shutterstock/FotodomUkraine Interior Minister Arsen Avakov
Arsen Avakov, whose resignation from the post of the Interior Minister was approved by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on Thursday, has a significant influence on the country's security, defense and law enforcement system, and has links to big business. In this way, his stepping down weakens the country's government, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Ruslan Bortnik told a TASS correspondent:
"Avakov's resignation with his business connections, with his influence on the security system - the entire police force was built by Avakov - potentially, undoubtedly, weakens the power structure. Despite the fact that it seems that the concentration of the security system in the president's hands will grow, this is a weakening of the power, and this is the laying of a foundation for more serious street and political risks in the future."
Additionally, the expert thinks that the former interior minister later himself may act against the current authorities:
"The crisis between Avakov and Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky is only aggravated by this resignation. At the government's moment of weakness, at the moment of a new political crisis we'll see Avakov's game against the president's office."
According to the expert, the return of the former minister to big politics is only a question of time.

The political scientist reiterated that the grounds for a conflict have long existed in the Ukrainian leader's office:
"The main cause of Avakov's resignation is his constant conflict with the president's office. Additionally, the president's entourage, which deals with the security bloc, constantly set Zelensky against the interior minister. The key cause of the conflict is the competition for authority over the security bloc."
Earlier on Thursday, the Rada upheld Avakov's resignation letter written on Tuesday. He has served as the interior minister since February 27, 2014, and was the only government member, who took office after the 2014 coup d'etat in Ukraine and remained in his post until now. He managed to hold on to his position despite frequent Ukrainian government reshuffles as well as criticism from both the participants in the events that triggered the coup in Ukraine and from its opponents. Those dissatisfied with Avakov accused him of unsuccessful police reform, the failure to solve high-profile murders and the prosecution of the opposition and nationalists.