Since 2019, NAKO has been an observer of the selection process for the director’s positions at several enterprises of the then-state concern “Ukroboronprom.” The introduction of such competitions with the participation of the public was aimed primarily at “bringing out of the shadows” the critical personnel decisions of the concern’s leadership, allowing external observers – representatives of partner countries’ embassies and civil society – to see the selection process firsthand and, if there were any questions or opinions, voice them to both the leadership and potential candidates.
The involvement of civil society in this process has always been advisory: we analyzed candidates, asked them clarifying questions about their integrity and corruption risks, and ultimately expressed our thoughts on supporting or not supporting specific candidates. Our conclusions were not always taken into account – an example of this is Oleksiy Popov, appointed head of Plant 410 Civil Aviation at the beginning of 2020 and dismissed six days later following a scandal. Even during the selection stage, we warned about the risks associated with his candidacy, but the concern ignored our warnings at that time.
The full-scale invasion halted the selection process, resuming only in the fall of 2023. NAKO, as before, joined this process – in 2023, we participated in 12 out of 13 selections, considering a total of 80 candidates. Based on the results of these selections, we have compiled overall statistics and the main trends of these competitions, and we are ready to share our analysis.
Methodology
NAKO analyzes all candidates based on information from open sources: various registries, media, and other resources. We have three main evaluation criteria: the presence of criminal cases, corruption offences, and potential risks of political connections; and three levels of risk: low, medium, and high.
A range of objective and subjective factors complicates this simple analysis. Sometimes, a candidate may have no confirmed cases of corruption or criminal offences; however, their public and private activities may still carry potential risks. For example, without any criminal cases, a candidate may be featured in numerous media publications – both questionable and reputable – which, in any case, cast a shadow on their integrity. Yet, this doesn’t guarantee that the person is dishonest. Therefore, the assessment relies on a somewhat forced discretion.
It is important to emphasize that considering the questionable nature of some publications and the overall nature of Ukraine’s law enforcement and judicial system, the presence or absence of investigations, criminal proceedings, and court verdicts only indicates their existence or absence. In other words, NAKO acknowledges that some facts reported in the media may imply real cases of corruption that, for one reason or another, are not recorded by the law enforcement system. Conversely, not all publications about corruption reflect actual instances of corruption. Candidates with such backgrounds were often given a medium-risk assessment during the preliminary analysis.
NAKO also does not analyze candidates in isolation – we have the right to ask questions that, in our opinion, will help better understand both potential and actual risks for a specific candidate. Therefore, the final risk assessment considers the answers to our questions.
Candidates – Who Are They?
With our participation, 12 heads of various enterprises were selected from among 80 candidates (some of whom were repeated two or three times). Among them, two are women – more than in all previous years of competitions combined.
The average age of the candidates is 47 years. Most of these individuals have law, mechanical engineering, economics, international relations, and finance degrees. Those who obtained more than one degree also showed interest in public administration.
Many candidates either did not specify their language skills or, for example, did not consistently indicate knowledge of Russian. However, the language proficiency spectrum varies from one to four languages. 18.7% are proficient in English at a high level, 21.2% at an intermediate level, and 17.5% at a basic level; the rest – 42.5% – did not specify their knowledge of English. Additionally, some candidates indicated certain proficiency levels in French, Spanish, German, Polish, and Italian.
Not all candidates had experience in the defence industry, but the majority – 72.5% – worked in this sector. All candidates’ average work experience in the defence industry is ten years, with the most experienced candidate having worked in this industry for about 46 years. 53.7% came from top managerial positions – directors, deputy directors, and acting. 22.5% of candidates came from the private sector, another 28.7% from the public sector, and the rest have experience in both industries. 13.7% had experience in public policy (primarily as government officials at various levels).
The selected heads of enterprises at the Ukrainian Defense Industry JSC are, on average, five years younger, predominantly with education in mechanical engineering (as specialists and masters). Half of the heads did not specify their knowledge of English, while the other half demonstrated various proficiency levels in this language.
All selected candidates have worked in the defence industry and have held various managerial positions in the past, with an average work experience of 13.5 years. The youngest head of an enterprise is 33 years old, while the most experienced leader has 28 years of experience. None of the heads had experience working in the purely private sector.
Risk Assessment
Compared to previous years, the selection process in 2023 stands out for the overall low level of risk for most candidates. Only 6.2% received a negative assessment from NAKO, while another 17.5% had a medium level of risk. Another significant trend is that in the vast majority, the risk assessment of candidates did not change – only ten candidates, after interviews, moved from the medium-risk category to the low-risk category, and one, conversely, shifted to a riskier category.
In total, 75.9% had no apparent political risks (such as participation in elections at various levels and/or connections with political parties). 81.25% of candidates had no identified corruption risks – including both administrative cases and potential instances of direct or indirect corruption, documented or media-reported to varying degrees of reliability (see Methodology). No criminal cases were recorded for 92.5% of the candidates.
Those ultimately chosen to lead a range of enterprises within Ukroboronprom had exclusively low risk – no specific criminal cases or instances of corruption were recorded for any of them. However, isolated cases of past political activity and potential connections with political forces were present.
Although the 2023 selection process differs significantly from previous ones with its notably low level of risk, this does not guarantee immunity from corruption in the future and does not ensure the effectiveness of the chosen individuals overall. Therefore, the civil society, including NAKO, will closely monitor these developments in the future.
The new director of the Ukroboronprom aircraft factory likes to dress up in Russian military uniforms
Scandalous details of the appeal and sudden dismissal of the general director of the 410th aircraft factory surfaced – a photo of him in a Russian military uniform, taken in 2015, applied.
The photo was made public by the editor-in-chief of Sensor.NETYuriy Butusov, who also reported that the new head of the state-owned enterprise did not pass the inspection of the Security Service of Ukraine.
The photo, accending to Sensor.Net sources, was taken at the MAKS-2015 aviation exhibition in August 2015 new Moscow. Oleksiy Popov (right) bought himself a Russian pilot’s suit. He positions next to his father, Viktor Popov, owner of PJSC “FED” – a private clone of the FED plant in Kharkiv. In the fall of 2015, President Petro Poroschenko introduced a new package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, and the Fed stopped cooperation with Russian films. But to be photographed in the uniform of Russian military pilots during the war is simple and is just an insult to one’s people, who are thinking a war against Russian aggression and have just those of lives of their defenders, but have just an example of lives of their defenders, but
We will repeat that, according to the press service of the concern, on January 15, General Director Aivaras Abromavychus issued an order to dismiss the director of SE “Zavod 410 TSA” Oleksiy Popov, whose appinment based on the results of an open selection was announcedonly on January 9, 2020.
A short notice on the concern’s website states that such a decision was made “on the bass of Oleksiy Popov’s state by virtual content of both parties. V.O. Khomko, the first deputy, has been shown to acting general director of the enterprise.”
But this is not the end of the story. A photo of what happens to be a letter from Oleksiy Popov regarded the wireless of his application for disisissal, which was made without his “willpower and under pressure”, also applied on the network, where it is also not that he will be on January 15
Note that many have a dream attention to the stack of any work experience and mind of specific enterprise in the “work biography” of Oleksiy Popov, whichwas made public by Ukroboronprom after has an apppoint to the post a week ago.
We will replace that the decision-making general director of the concern Mustafa Masi Nayem delimited UAH 486.5 thousand and needed from DK “Ukroboprom” – academy to report on the change in property status, Nayem accept 310 thousand UAH on December 521, on December 2
Newsessentials Blog 
Posted on June 26, 2024
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