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Former Georgian president resigns as Ukraine's regional governor

Xinhua, November 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Georgia's former President Mikhail Saakashvili said Monday he has tendered his resignation as governor of Ukraine's southern Odessa region over alleged corruption in government bodies.

In a video posted on his Facebook page, Saakashvili said that the reforms in the Odessa region were thwarted by some Ukrainian officials who "support corruption" and "patronize criminal clans."

"We are witnessing that the old forces are attacking everything progressively, we are witnessing that all the new initiatives are being nipped in the bud," he said.

Despite his resignation as the regional governor, Saakashvili said he would stay in Ukraine to continue to fight corruption.

Saakashvili, 48, who served as Georgian president from 2008 to 2013, was appointed as Odessa's regional governor last year.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has not accepted his resignation yet. Endi