Government appoints acting ministers of agriculture, infrastructure

Kateryna Denisova
·2 min read
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The Ukrainian government appointed on May 14 Taras Vysotskyi and Vasyl Shkurakov as the acting agriculture and infrastructure ministers, respectively, said Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in parliament.

Vysotskyi previously served as a deputy economy minister and was appointed the first deputy agriculture minister in 2021.

Shkurakov was appointed a deputy infrastructure minister in the same year. Prior to that, he was a deputy CEO of the Ukrainian state-owned energy company Ukrhydroenergo and a general director of Ukrfinzhytlo company.

Parliament dismissed Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi and Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov last week.

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Kubrakov said that he had not been invited to meet with the head of the party or with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to discuss the decision on his surprise dismissal. The news came amid reports that the ministry he headed could be split into two separate bodies — the Infrastructure Ministry and the Regional Policy Ministry.

"We have proved by our own example that public service can be different — oriented on results and not on the endless bureaucratic process, with zero tolerance for corruption, decent compensation, and maximum respect for people. I hope this will be preserved," Kubrakov wrote on Facebook on May 14.

Solskyi is suspected of illegally appropriating Ukrainian state-owned land worth Hr 291 million ($7.3 million) and attempting to seize another plot worth an additional Hr 190 million ($4.8 million), according to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).

Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court ordered Solskyi's arrest on April 26. He was ordered to be held in custody until June 24, but he posted a Hr 75.7 million ($1.9 million) bail on the same day and was released.

Read also: Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau makes progress yet doesn’t take on top presidential allies

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