Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has been forced to cancel more than a dozen meetings with the U.S. business community after the Cabinet of Ministers denied him permission to attend the Ukrainian-American business forum in New York.
Omelyan was due to fly out on March 4 for the forum, which runs from March 6-7, but instead took to Facebook to express his frustration with the cabinet.
“Unfortunately for them, I don’t share the opinion that Ukraine’s only saviors are the ‘investors’ of Pechersky hills and will continue working to attract foreign direct investment from the world’s strategists,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“Ukraine can and should be fully integrated into the world economy, but for Ukrainians, it’s enough to tell stories about the country’s special path to reform, the main slogans of which are: ‘be patient and wait’, or ‘Make Ukraine Poor Again.’”
Omelyan said he has been preparing for the trip for three months and had planned 20 meetings with large American companies, including General Electric, Caterpillar, and Tesla.
“I hope the chairman of the transportation committee in the Senate and House of Representatives, the leadership of the Department of Transportation, Treasury, Commerce, and the State Department are understanding of the situation.”
American company Tesla Motors last year expressed interest in doing business with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, American Corporation General Electric last year signed a memorandum of cooperation with state-owned aircraft manufacturer Antonov and Ukrzaliznytsia.
According to Omelyan’s post, the cabinet cancelled the trip due to its distance.
Omelyan has been battling the Cabinet of Ministers over its decision to move Ukrzalyznytsia, the country’s rail operator, away from the control of the Ministry of Infrastructure to the jurisdiction of the cabinet itself. Omelyan has claimed that the transfer is part of a larger effort to halt his attempt to rid the enterprise of corruption.
