Mykhailo Kopolovets: "I have no political ambitions! For now..."

Mykhailo Kopolovets, a former footballer of Lviv's Karpaty and Zakarpattia's Minay, commented on his start as an assistant to the MP.

- Mykhailo, how did you become an assistant to Andrii Sheketa, a member of the Transcarpathian Regional Council?

- Everything is very simple. We have known each other for a long time, once we were together in the East of Ukraine on a volunteer mission - we drove vehicles there. Andriy constantly organises sports events and said he needed advice. We got to talking and he asked me to attend some of his events. I agreed. That was about three or four months ago. We recently met in Uzhhorod, had coffee, and he said: "I want to be specific," and he offered me to officially become his assistant, and I agreed.

- As far as I know, the work of an MP's assistant is not paid.

- That's right, I will work on a voluntary basis. I have no political ambitions! You should write that down. For now... (Laughs)

- Well, why not? Shevchenko, Blokhin and other famous footballers have been in politics. Vitali Klitschko is now the mayor of Kyiv, and even Usyk is talking about the presidency.

- I value my reputation very much, and politics is a huge muddy place. I know many members of the Transcarpathian Regional Council and I see what is happening there. The system simply eats people, even those who came with good intentions, and they all turn into khokhles, as the president said in a famous film. I'm not giving up, anything can happen, but for now I'm happy in the football sphere. When I look at what's happening in Uzhhorod, I want to change something for the better, but this requires a large and strong team of like-minded people.

Andrii Piskun