The decision of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers to transfer public joint-stock company Ukrzaliznytsia to government management is the issue of the further reform of the company, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has said.
“What is happening now is not the transfer of Ukrzaliznytsia from control of one party to another. This is the issue of reform – if it were conducted or not. I as minister and citizen have no desire or any attempts to totally control or influence the enterprises, which I am authorized to manage. Smeliansky, Nowak, Veckagans and other heads of central executive power agencies and enterprises can confirm any second that my only requirement is development and efficiency,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
He also said that Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukrposhta and Ukrainian Sea Port Authority did not have other option along with corporatization.
“The independent and strong board and the same supervisory board, and the state only provides for transparent mechanism of their operation. I believe that the Economic Development and Trade Ministry would finish long work on all bylaws regarding corporatization in short terms and on the longsuffering concession bill. Thanks to this we would be able to launch the effective market mechanisms. At the final stage when everything works well, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry is to response for the operation of 10 or 20 corporatized companies that would remain in public ownership,” Omelyan wrote.
He said that at present the Economic Development and Trade Ministry did not have enough knowledge for these steps, while they had large desire.
“The experiment with informal influence on Ukrzaliznytsia had cost a lot to the state,” he said.
The minister again criticized work of Ukrzaliznytsia Board Chairman Wojciech Balczun. (Interfax/Business World Magazine)