Nayyem resigned and accused Shmyhal’s government of disrupting construction of defence structures and protective infrastructure in energy sector
Mustafa Nayyem resigned from his position as the head of the State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine due to systemic obstacles.
He posted this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
"I am resigning as the head of the Recovery Agency. I made the decision on my own due to systemic obstacles that do not allow me to fulfil my duties effectively. Since November last year, the Agency's team has been facing constant opposition, resistance and the creation of artificial obstacles," he said.
Nayyem went on to describe in detail the obstacles he and his team had to face.
"First of all, the budget for road rehabilitation and maintenance projects was completely cancelled. I understand the limited resources and the importance of military spending. But the cancellation of funds for infrastructure maintenance will inevitably affect the condition of defence roads and, as a result, all military logistics. If this does not change, we will face complications in military logistics and exports next season," he said.
"Secondly, we have been subjected to a bureaucratic nightmare, when documents for payment for defence structures, fortifications or restoration have been approved by the Government for months, returned six to eight times with ridiculous comments, delayed for several months, and some have not been approved to this day. Right now, the Government has not agreed on the disbursement of almost €150 million borrowed by the state from the EIB for critical projects, including water supply and energy protection, for three months. All of this has consequences, which I have officially reported on numerous occasions. Late payment of contractors undermines trust in the state; delays in funding slow down and, in some areas, completely stop construction work, which means a loss of trust in the market, local authorities, and citizens. But most importantly, all of this has a negative impact on the country's defence capability, cargo logistics, protection of critical infrastructure and exports of our goods. It is clear that such actions will sooner or later lead to criticism of our team and dissatisfaction of our international partners," he adds.
"THIRD: In addition, since the beginning of the year, the Agency has had its salaries cut significantly - the lion's share of employees were cut by up to 68% of their salaries. The government did this against all logic and common sense. And no, we didn't have outrageous salaries - a senior specialist at the Agency used to receive just over UAH 30,000, and now it's UAH 14,000. As a result, since the beginning of the year, we have already lost 25% of our team, as I have repeatedly written letters to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the NAPC and the Ministry of Finance, and as the G7 ambassadors have repeatedly said at meetings with the Prime Minister. I believe that this was done on purpose so that the Agency, which to some extent has become a model for building processes from scratch, would simply run out of professional and motivated people, and the Agency itself would be recognised as ineffective and unnecessary," the official said.
Despite all these obstacles, the Agency has not failed or stopped a single project, military cargo, or evacuation route during the entire period of the great war. Today, the Agency is simultaneously coordinating the work of 353 (!) reconstruction sites across the country.
"This is the most challenging job of my life," Nayyem emphasises.
However, according to him, they managed to implement a large number of projects over the year. After the de-occupation of the affected regions, almost 1,300 km of roads and traffic on 330 bridges were restored. The 29 largest checkpoints on the western border were repaired and design work began on the reconstruction and construction of two new checkpoints. After Russian troops blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, 155 km of main water supply pipeline was built in a very short time in Dnipropetrovsk region, which will provide drinking water to 1.5 million people.
"One of the Agency's largest projects is the construction of protective structures against drones and missiles at 22 distribution substations of NPC Ukrenergo and protection of 103 energy facilities from shrapnel damage, which was entrusted to us by the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff. All the work to protect against drones and shrapnel has been completed. It is thanks to this that, after the latest shelling, power engineers managed to restore electricity supply in Kharkiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions as soon as possible," the statement said.
"It was done without any unnecessary PR, ribbon-cutting or photo shoots. It was our job, not a feat. Working in an incredibly critical environment, we developed and implemented a large number of procurement standards that resulted in hundreds of millions in savings and market recognition in the first year. We also pioneered the practice of publishing prices for key materials to ensure transparency and efficiency in the use of public funds and to protect the Agency's credibility," adds Nayyem.
"All of this was possible thanks to the support of the Ministry and the Minister, who allowed me to make independent decisions and achieve results without waiting for stabs in the back. With the dismissal of the Minister, this became impossible, and the latest decision of the Prime Minister to cancel my official participation in the Conference on the Restoration of Ukraine in Berlin confirmed this. I will not be ashamed of what we managed to do during the full-scale invasion.
Of course, there were mistakes and shortcomings, without which it is impossible to implement projects of such complexity and in such conditions. But we always responded and strived to do better. In the end, we have shown that the state apparatus can work more transparently, and civil servants can take responsibility and achieve results without unnecessary bureaucracy. And I will be sincerely sorry if our plans, processes and standards in this area are destroyed," he adds.
Obviously, as Nayyem notes, his team did not always fit into the current style and team of public administration.
"And I do not rule out that there will be attempts to persecute and discredit our work in the public sphere. In fact, this has been happening for a long time. I am ready for this and, before my resignation, I asked all law enforcement and regulatory authorities to take all measures to verify the legality and transparency of the decisions made by the Agency.
Today, I wrote my resignation letter and said goodbye to the Agency's team and heads of the Regional Recovery Services. Understanding the responsibility that rests with our team, I will continue to perform my duties until the Government makes a decision on my dismissal and hand over to my successors. I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure that the Agency continues to implement projects that are critically important for the country. Currently, our entire team and the Recovery Services in the regions continue to work as usual," he adds.
"I was appointed head of the Recovery Agency on the proposal of Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, and together we started working in the Ministry, where I was his deputy for almost a year, and where we jointly launched the restructuring and cleansing of the Ministry and its subordinate institutions from senseless bureaucracy and corruption. I am sincerely grateful for his trust. I am also grateful to my entire team, my deputies, the heads of the Regional Recovery Services and numerous international partners and diplomatic missions who have been by my side all this time and helped to rebuild Ukraine," he concludes.
