Ukraine’s parliament on May 20 approved the nominations of Oleksiy Lubchenko as the new economy minister and Oleksandr Kubrakov as the new infrastructure minister.
Prior to the appointment, Kubrakov was the head of Ukraine’s state road agency Ukravtodor and Lubchenko was the head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine.
Lubchenko’s confirmation got 293 supporting votes and Kubrakov’s got 284. All 24 European Solidarity party lawmakers present in the parliament opposed both confirmations.
Parliament also voted to confirm Viktor Lyashko as the new minister of health, replacing Maksym Stepanov.
Kubrakov replaced Vladyslav Krykliy, who’s been the infrastructure minister since August 2019.
“Krykliy remains a member of our team. We don’t have a problem with him,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said at his press conference on May 20th.
“We need to build Ukraine quickly. The minister (Krykliy’s) team didn’t do it on time. I don’t have time to spare. The most effective person in infrastructure projects who showed quick results was Oleksandr Kubrakov of Ukravtodor, so he became infrastructure minister,” Zelensky added.
In 2019, Kubrakov became a member of parliament with Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. Later that year he gave up his seat to become the head of Ukravtodor.
One of Kubrakov’s main priorities will be to stabilize the financial condition of the state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia. He also hopes to develop existing airports, create a network of regional airports, as well as a national air carrier.
The new Economy Minister, Lubchenko, is replacing Ihor Petrashko, who had held this post since May 2020. Previously, Petrashko was an executive at UkrLandFarming, an agricultural company owned by oligarch Oleg Bakhmatyuk.
Zelensky said that Petrashko is also “staying on the team,” and will coordinate the launch of the land reform.
Lubchenko said his priorities include the development of a competitive market, small and medium-sized businesses, technology and economic independence.
