Vladyslav Kryklii was in his early 30s when he became the minister of infrastructure.
The young official took office in 2019, inheriting the mantle of managing — and trying to improve — thousands of kilometers of poor roads, bad railways, and an aviation industry knocked low by the pandemic.
He also had to grapple with over a dozen outdated seaports, weak inland waterways and six giant river locks in critical condition, threatening ecological disaster.
Such a legacy promised endless work for him.
Two years later, Kryklii remained full of energy and ambition to change what he called “the infrastructure wardrobe” of Ukraine. He was afraid of only one thing — that he wouldn’t have enough time.
“Time is the most expensive resource,” said Kryklii. “We need to change quickly what should have changed a long time ago.”
He was right about that.
Two weeks after Kryklii spoke with the Kyiv Post, President Volodymyr Zelensky showed him the door; parliament officially dismissed him on May 18.
Leaving office, Kryklii thanked his colleagues for supporting his dreams despite all challenges. “I definitely don’t say goodbye to the infrastructure family, it is in my heart,” he said.
Searching for a ‘rock star’
“A state within a state.”
That’s what Kryklii called Ukraine’s state-owned railway monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia, when he spoke to the Kyiv Post in his last interview as minister.
The country’s railway monopoly, which transports 306 million tons of cargo a year, needs an effective chairman like never before, he said. The company ended 2020 with a net loss of $425 million — the worst result in five years.
The company has changed several CEOs and acting heads over the past two years, making scandals around high-profile layoffs common at the company. Even, now the giant that employs a staggering 250,000 people doesn’t have a CEO.
The Cabinet of Ministers fired the last one — Volodymyr Zhmak — in March after Ukrzaliznytsia’s supervisory board had dismissed him abruptly. Zhmak was in charge for just six months. “His own mistakes are the reason,” said Kryklii.
Zhmak allegedly lobbied billionaire oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s interests, renting half of Ukrzaliznytsia’s freight cars — around 9,000 — to his Metinvest’s cargo company, Metinvest Shipping, for a knockdown price.
Metinvest now pays just $155,000 a day for using the wagons, while the list price should have been $252,000 a day. The company will enjoy this low price until 2024.
Kryklii believes that the new railway head will have to have a “startup approach” and resist the influence of oligarchs. The new chairman must “be zealous in changing the company,” he said.
“A person who will change the Ukrzaliznytsia will be a ‘rock star.’ It is a very difficult task as there will be a lot of resistance, and he will have to step on a lot of toes.”
Kryklii said Ukrzaliznytsia plans to have a new head by September 2021.
New rail purchases
There are nearly 280 diesel locomotives in Ukraine and some 1,390 electric ones, but 95% of them are in bad condition.
This year the state will purchase three diesel locomotives and 100 new passenger cars, 3% of today’s total amount. “Ukraine hasn’t purchased that many new trains in the last decade,” said Kryklii.
He said Ukraine may soon have more electric locomotives, too, with a $500 million agreement with France to purchase about 50–60 new locomotives from rolling stock manufacturer Alstom.
These locomotives will be exclusively for the business.
The idea of launching a large-scale program of privately owned locomotives isn’t going to work, Kryklii said.
In his opinion, private locomotives and lower tariffs for the use of railway infrastructure for cargo transportation, something that business has been asking for, will undermine Ukrzaliznytsia’s only profitable activity — cargo transportation. Allowing this “will be self-cannibalism,” Kryklii said.
Attracting investment
Rather than putting massive effort into reviving Ukraine’s 13 seaports and numerous railway stations, the minister considered long-term concessions as a better option.
Private investors have already won concession projects in two seaports: Olvia by Qatar’s QTerminals in Mykolaiv Oblast and the Port of Kherson by Georgian-Swiss consortium Risoil-Kherson.
The total investment promised is $150 million.
“We pass the steering wheel to the concessionaires,” said Kryklii.
The now-former infrastructure minister named several more objects on the concession menu for 2021: a terminal in the Port of Chornomorsk, the Port of Berdyansk in Zaporizhia Oblast, Izmail in Odesa Oblast, and the Odesa passenger terminal.
Three smaller commercial seaports — Skadovsk, Ust-Dunaisk, and Belgorod-Dnistrovsky — were already transferred to the State Property Fund for privatization.
For the railway industry, Kryklii’s strategy is the same — to attract more private businesses to heal outdated state infrastructure. The ministry is in a hurry to prepare railway stations for concessions in Kyiv, Khmelnitsky, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Chop.
According to Kryklii, the state plans to attract around $100 million in investments for the country’s busiest railway station in Kyiv alone.
His favorite example is Austria’s railway station in Vienna, where on some days, nearly 60% of visitors come to shop and relax — not to travel.
Revitalizing waterways
Another top priority for the infrastructure ministry is modernization of the old locks, built during the Soviet Union along the Dnipro River, Ukraine’s main water artery.
“They are dilapidated. The oldest one was built in 1961,” Kryklii said. “If a lock breaks, water can flood more than one region, causing an environmental disaster.”
To fix them, every year, the ministry will be taking $20 million from the State Road Fund. Overall, the major repair will cost some $120 million for the state.
Outdated locks currently cannot let through enough ships and cargo barges, a type of transport that is gaining popularity among grain exporters as an alternative for road and rail transportation.
Aviation rescue operation
The pandemic brought entire industries to their knees. One of the victims was Ukrainian aviation.
Aviation can survive, Kruklii said, but a few steps should be made first.
The government will lift value-added tax for domestic flights, which will decrease ticket prices and attract customers. “After long-heated discussions, we found common ground at all political levels,” said Kryklii. “This is an opportunity to fly more.”
This year Ukraine also expects to sign an “open sky” agreement with the European Union. A common aviation area will add more opportunities for commercial flights for Ukrainian airlines.
Right now Ukraine is building its first airport since 1991 near the city of Mukachevo in western Zakarpattia Oblast, close to the borders with Slovakia and Hungary. Kryklii believes that it will be ready in three years.
No inspectors, no bribes
Digital technologies are the most effective tool to prevent corruption, Kryklii said.
One of his best examples is a joint project with Ukrainian police to launch speeding cameras. “Cameras work, speed is measured, fines are issued,” he said.
The next project on his mind is to spread weight-in-motion systems throughout the country to detect overloaded trucks and protect roads from damage.
There are 41 such systems set up in Ukraine, six of which are located on the entrance roads to Kyiv. By the end of this year, there will be 100 of them, the former minister said.
The mass launch of the weight-in-motion system will also mean inspectors won’t be on the roads soliciting bribes. The system will make a lot of inspectors redundant: Instead of about 200 of them, there will be 10–15 techies in a data center.
“There will be no contact (with an inspector). I really like these things, they are the most effective way to fight corruption,” he said.
After Kryklii was dismissed, he didn’t specify where he’s going next, but it seems he may stay in politics. “Let’s leave room for intrigue. Everyone will learn about it one day,” said Kryklii.
