U.S. lobbying firm Diplomatic Trade Ltd started working for Deputy Prime Minister Oleh Uruskiy, Ukrainian investigative journalist Tanya Kozyreva wrote on March 20, citing official U.S. filings.
“The Ministry (for Strategic Industries) has not asked anyone, including U.S.-based Diplomatic Trade, to provide lobbying or any other services,” Uruskiy, who is also the minister for strategic industries, said in a response to the Kyiv Post. “(The ministry has) exchanged correspondence with Diplomatic Trade but no obligations were undertaken, and (the correspondence) was just information-related. The U.S. company offered its services, and the Ministry for Strategic Industries thanked it for the proposal and expressed interest in cooperation between the U.S. and Ukraine.”
The firm said in its filings that it will work pro bono for Uruskiy. Normally, the services of U.S. lobbyists can cost up to $50,000 per month, according to Kozyreva.
This can be interpreted as a gift subject to declaration under Ukrainian law. Uruskiy didn’t declare it.
Uruskiy might have a conflict of interest in this arrangement.
Benjamin Ballout, managing director of Diplomatic Trade Ltd, the firm that does lobbying for Uruskiy, is also the head of the executive board of Enerkon Solar International, according to Kozyreva.
In February, Enerkon Solar International launched a solar power project in Ukraine. The company said it had received an official letter of acceptance from Uruskiy to start the project.
Uruskiy told the Kyiv Post that he was not aware of Enerkon’s projects and his ministry was not planning to take part in them.
Uruskiy has been involved in a series of scandals recently.
Recently, he has been spotted walking next to notorious Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov through a crowded hall at the IDEX-2021 arms exhibition in the United Arab Emirates. Uruskiy said it was a coincidence and denied being acquainted with Kadyrov.
The latest incident follows a long trail of scandals involving Uruskiy, who has led the Ministry for Strategic Industries since its inception in July.
The new ministry was supposed to make policy for the military, aircraft and aerospace industries.
Numerous anti-graft watchdogs accused Uruskiy of gaining highly-centralized, non-transparent control of the country’s greatest state-run strategic enterprises, such as the legendary aircraft manufacturer Antonov or Dnipro-based spacecraft plants and design bureaus.
Uruskiy’s activities led to a conflict with the top management team of UkrOboronProm, Ukraine’s state-run defense production giant, which accused the official of derailing the corporation’s reform.
The ministry was criticized for being just another bureaucratic monster assuming the ultimate say over the country’s military acquisition and appointment of top managers of defense enterprises. Watchdogs said this creates numerous risks of conflict of interest.
