Fedorov’s move to collaborate with Palantir breaches the principles of integrity, - journalist Nikolaienko
Journalist Tetiana Nikolaienko commented on reports concerning former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Palantir founder Alex Karp, highlighting the principles of integrity that should be upheld when former officials move into the private sector.
She wrote about this on Facebook, according to Censor.NET.
Nikolaienko’s position
According to her, she does not like this news — for the same reason previously highlighted by Taras Kotov: first, the ministry passes data to Palantir, and then its founder, Karp, becomes an investor in the former minister’s company.
Nikolaienko recalled that six months ago, a significant conflict arose between the associations and the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) — at that time, the DPA imposed a condition whereby former employees moving to private companies were not permitted to enter into contracts with the agency for a period of one year. According to her, this was the right move, and at the NACP meeting she supported the agency’s position, citing international practice as well.
"But what are we to do, and how are we to build this integrity, when a former minister sees nothing wrong with this twisted logic? And how do you intend to stop the sale of raw battlefield footage after this?" added Nikolaienko.
What led up to this?
- As a reminder, it was previously reported that former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov met with representatives of American investment firms and venture capital funds during a visit to Washington. He announced that, together with his team, he would set up his own defence-tech company.
- Fedorov posted a joint video with Alex Karp, CEO of the American technology company Palantir, and announced that Karp would be the project’s "first key investor".
