Former Minister Kubrakov spoke about pressure from the government and his new position at the Ministry of Defense

Former Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov spoke about the conflict with the government and his new position in the Ministry of Defense.

The former minister spoke about the nuances of his dismissal and his new position in an interview with “Babel”.

According to Oleksandr Kubrakov, his “crowding out” of the ministry began in mid-2023. Even in wartime, the government could not approve certain acts for several months. In parallel, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal could cancel Kubrakov’s already planned trip to the United States without explaining the reasons.

“Then the budget is adopted, and salaries are cut to the maximum in all central government departments for which you are responsible, for example, in DIAM, Ukrtransbezpetsa, the Shipping Administration, and the Recovery Agency. And now when they start touching people, it looks to me like a desire to harm,” the former minister said.

Kubrakov recalls that in mid-2021, when he had just become the Minister of Infrastructure, the team did “a lot of unpopular things,” and all key reforms were pushed through only with the help of the president.

The former minister noted that by eliminating intermediaries between UZ and Energoatom, it was possible to save about 5-7 billion hryvnias per year. “Of course, someone lost them. And the lobby of the dissatisfied, I think, was quite large. The same when we removed intermediaries in the ports,” Kubrakov summarized.

In January this year, Oleksandr Kubrakov was appointed advisor to the head of the Ministry of Defense, Rustem Umerov. In the ministry, he will deal with issues of supply and logistics.

Kubrakov emphasizes: for him, logistics is not only about roads and railways, and mostly not only about what is happening on the territory of Ukraine, but also about what is happening outside its borders.

“When you know the schedule of cargo planes, how many there will be, you plan trucks. You know when a ship with military weapons is leaving for a port in Germany or Poland, where it is going now, how much is on it. And you transmit all this information to the General Staff, the Ministry of Defense in a timely manner. And they see the real situation, plan their operations and understand what they will fight with in the coming months,” explained the new advisor to the head of the Ministry of Defense.

Recall that on May 9, 2024, the Parliament dismissed Oleksandr Kubrakov from the post of Vice Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine – Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine.

Later, Kubrakov commented on his dismissal. According to him, the faction leadership and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal did not discuss this decision with him. He was also not invited to meetings of the faction and the relevant committee.