Governor of Volynska oblast ousted journalists that covered his meeting with investor

On August 12, the head of Volynska Oblast State Administration Volodymyr Hunchyk showed the door to the journalists that were covering hs meeting  with a potential investor in construction of a regional airport in Lutsk as he said that the conversation was getting too tense. 

On August, the Oblast State Administration press service invited local media outlets to the governor’s meeting in regard of inviting investments in development of an airport in Lutsk. The conversation between the governor and potential investors went poorly.

A Lutsk native, Serhiy Diachuk expressed his desire to invest in this project; according to him, he’s been lobbying for this project for several years already – to build an airport on the basis of the military airdrome. For this, the Ministry of Defense has to return the airdrome’s land lot to the local territorial community.  The governor asked who specifically would invest the money, to what Diachuk answered that he himself would be an investor as he owns several businesses, including a construction company. Hunchyk asked whether Diachuk had money and mentioned that the money had to be declared. Diachuk did not like the wording and asked what the Oblast State Administration had to offer.

At this point, the governor told the journalists to leave as the conversation was getting tense.  They continued it behind the closed doors.