In his message, the president stated that Odesa is a “priority region” for Ukraine.
"I introduced the newly appointed head of the Odesa Regional State Administration (RSA), Oleh Kiper; this is a priority region of our independent country," the message said.
During the meeting, issues such as the restoration of energy infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks, ensuring its stable operation, the reopening of key enterprises, meeting the needs of internally displaced persons, and veteran rehabilitation were discussed.
Zelenskyy appointed Kiper, then-head of the Kyiv prosecutor's office, as Odesa regional governor earlier on May 31.
On March 15, Zelenskyy signed decrees dismissing several governors, including that of Odesa – Col. Maksym Marchenko. He had been leading the Odessa RSA since March 2, 2022. After his dismissal, Marchenko said he planned to return to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Oleh Kiper was born in 1980 in the village of Tymkove, Odesa Oblast. He graduated from the Odessa National Law Academy with a law degree in 2002.
Since 2001, he worked in the prosecutor's office initially in Odesa, and then in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
On June 9, 2020, the then Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova appointed Kiper as the deputy prosecutor of Kyiv, and three months later he began to lead the city's prosecution.
Prior to that appointment, he was an adviser to the head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak.
In the summer of 2022, some media reports suggested that Kiper could become the new Prosecutor-General after Venediktova's dismissal.