A year ago, I enthusiastically gave up a successful career in order to serve my country in its time of need. I assumed the role of minister of infrastructure thinking I knew what I had signed up for. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
The Ministry of Infrastructure I took leadership of 12 months ago was a nightmare.
In early 2015, I had to practically beg for a loan to buy fuel for the only railway network operator in the country so that it could keep functioning.
Another example, Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia), which is subordinated to the Ministry of Infrastructure, used to buy goods from another enterprise which is also subordinated to the Ministry of Infrastructure using a shell company to intermediate the relationship, thus operating as vampires on the state finances.
And my personal horror story – the old generation of employees in the ministry could simply “forget” to follow my instructions and not face any adverse consequences. As a person who came from business, every time I encountered such ridiculous situations I couldn’t believe it was for real.
I believe that the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine – in charge of sky, water, earth, plus the post office – has managed to implement many changes during this year, of course, not as many as I had hoped.
Transit through Ukraine is gradually becoming much faster and easier. Namely, the Ministry of Infrastructure has reduced the number of permits, licenses and certifications. The results can already be seen in Ukrainian ports – it used to take several days to obtain clearance, now it takes 30 minutes at most.
In 2015, we corporatized Ukrzaliznytsia and implemented transparent centralized procurement procedures. As a result, there is a new top management in Ukrzaliznytsia, involving specialists from Germany, more than Hr 500 million has been saved on procurement, and more than Hr 3 billion of the company’s own available funds have been channeled for repair works and capital investments. This will result in improved transport infrastructure, benefiting business owners and passengers.
Roads in Ukraine are also moving towards European standards.
The Ministry of Infrastructure launched reform of the state roads operator Ukravtodor to destroy its monopoly and introduce open, competitive market practices. We have also implemented a ban on overloaded trucks that damage roads faster than other vehicles. Besides, due to budget decentralization, more funds will be efficiently allocated for renovation and maintenance of local roads.
These are a few examples of our reforms that pave the way for better practices in Ukraine’s infrastructure sphere. And if someone does try to reverse these changes, I know I can count on the people of Ukraine to defend the gains we have made.
During 2015, my team introduced a number of instruments to help civil society monitor government officials.
We have disclosed more information in 2015 than had been disclosed for the past 23 years. We have opened information about public procurement, started to broadcast tenders online as well as publish budgets of state enterprises, plans of repairing of roads and expenses over the last five years.
And now, in this critical time for the country, I welcome and strongly encourage using these tools to maintain accountability of public servants.
Change is a collective effort. Everything I accomplished in the position was possible only due to the team of professionals who came with me to the ministry.
We devoted one year of our lives, working basically for free, to realize hopes of those who gave their lives on the Maydan (during the EuroMaidan Revolution) and in the Donbas.
Now it is the turn of another generation of young educated professionals to continue this work. With this in mind, I urge the authorities of Ukraine to speed up a full-scale reform of public administration in order to attract and retain talented managers with strong values.
I am leaving my position filled with faith in Ukraine and with overwhelming gratitude for those who stood by my side during good days and bad – the members of my team, the Ukrainian public, and the experts who came from all over the world to share their experience to begin to reform the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
Andriy Pyvovarskiy announced his resignation on Dec. 11 as minister of infrastructure overseeing Ukraine’s railways, ports, airlines, roads and postal service.
