Kim on the fight against corruption during his tenure as head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration
-
- Darina MelnychukCorrespondent
Vitalii Kim, Ukraine’s newly appointed Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Photo: NikVestiVitalii Kim, Ukraine’s newly appointed Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, has summarised his work as head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, in particular assessing the results of the fight against corruption.
He spoke about this during his final press conference as head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, according to NikVesti.
During the press conference, journalists asked Vitalii Kim how he assessed his work in the field of anti-corruption over more than five years of leading the region. In particular, the discussion centred on the fact that corruption scandals had arisen in the region during this time, and some of his subordinates had been sentenced.
«There are statistics showing that this approach works. There are rules to follow and, shall we say, a sense of conscience. The reputation of the Mykolaiv region has also helped us to work to the standards we wanted to uphold. There were certainly mistakes, but they occurred at a lower level, and we dealt with them without compromise. Cooperation with law enforcement agencies was of the highest standard,» said Vitalii Kim.
He added that it was precisely the authorities’ openness that became one of the factors which helped attract investment and international support to the region.
«And it is precisely because of this transparency, in particular, that we have managed to attract such a significant amount of investment to the Mykolaiv region, as well as new businesses and international partners. It is this consistent approach that, over the past five years, has enabled us to bring both money and trust to the Mykolaiv region,» said Vitalii Kim.
It should be noted that in September last year, law enforcement agencies announced that they had placed Oleksandr Nefiodov, former deputy director of the Department of Urban Development and head of the Capital Construction Directorate of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, under suspicion. He had previously been convicted of professional negligence during the construction of a bridge across the Southern Bug River.
In July of the same year, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that officials from the Infrastructure Directorate of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration were under suspicion. According to the investigation, they may have unjustifiably transferred 9.6 million hryvnias from the state budget to a contractor for the installation of protective measures at energy facilities.
Subsequently, the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration commented on the SBU’s allegations. They noted that work on securing energy infrastructure facilities was carried out within tight deadlines and under constant shelling. Their aim was to ensure the uninterrupted operation of critically important facilities on which the region’s stability depends. The Regional Military Administration also emphasised that the majority of materials and services were procured using funds from the regional budget.
During a press conference, Vitalii Kim stated that, following his departure from the post of head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, he would continue to support the region and work on the «South 2.0» economic strategy.
The day before, Vitalii Kim also promised to champion the interests of the Mykolaiv region during the allocation of state budget funds. He stated that the implementation of projects already underway would continue, and that support for the region should increase.
It should be recalled that the Verkhovna Rada appointed Vitalii Kim as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Prior to this, he had headed the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration since November 2020. Heorhii Reshetilov has been appointed acting head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.
