"Impossible to reform it quickly": Why Kubrakov, Kamyshin and Budanov did not become ministers of defence
At various times, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy considered Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, and Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries, as possible replacements for Oleksii Reznikov as Minister of Defence. However, all these candidates were rejected in the end.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda in the article Zelenskyy's Fourth Defence Minister. Why the President is replacing Reznikov with Umierov
Details: In February, the president considered the candidacy of Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy likes him for the bold operations of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
Budanov was wary of such an appointment, but he did not want to refuse the president directly.
High-ranking UP sources in the law enforcement agencies explained Budanov's hesitation as follows: "The Ministry of Defence is a huge machine, where most of the staff are people of pre-retirement age. Somehow, it is impossible to reform this structure and show instant results quickly."
Budanov was allegedly preparing to work in the Ministry of Defence, although it would be difficult for him to leave the intelligence, where he "adjusted all work to his management style" during the war.
Subsequently, Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, proposed that the President appoint Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, as the Minister of Defence.
Zelenskyy even held several rounds of negotiations with Kubrakov, but the latter set a condition: he would chair the Ministry of Defence only if he retained control over the Ministry of Infrastructure, leaving someone from his team as the head.
Kubrakov was saying that he had been assembling a team there for a very long time, and it was difficult to get large projects going, and now, when these projects should finally bring some fruit, the new management can unbalance everything.
Zelenskyy did not like the conditions being imposed on him. The UP sources say that the two raised their voices at times. Ultimately, the president decided to leave Kubrakov in his current position.
After Kubrakov, Zelenskyy was still considering appointing Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries, to the Ministry of Defence. But he had just settled down in the new ministry and did not rush to the Ministry of Defence. However, Kamyshin would not refuse Zelenskyy if the President insisted.
Background:
- The Verkhovna Rada accepted the resignation of Oleksii Reznikov from the position of Minister of Defence on 5 September. Ukraine’s parliament approved the appointment of Rustem Umierov, the former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, as the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, on 6 September.
- Oleksii Reznikov may be appointed Ukraine's ambassador to the UK after resigning as Defence Minister amid scandals over public procurement for the army, but no official announcement has been made yet.
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