Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksiy Kuleba submitted Ihor Zelinskyi's candidacy for the position of head of the State Aviation Service to the Cabinet of Ministers. Earlier, Zelinskyi worked as deputy head of this body and was involved in making a number of decisions that could potentially harm both the state's defense capabilities and Ukraine's interests in general. UNN asked the Vice Prime Minister why, in his opinion, the candidacy of Zelinskyi, who was dismissed from the State Aviation Service, is a good option.
Destruction of civil aviation, work with sanctioned companies, and damage to the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Representatives of the Ukrainian aviation market characterize Zelinskyi's period as deputy head of the State Aviation Service (2020–2025) as a time of systemic and purposeful destruction of transport aviation. If in 2016 there were more than 20 Il-76 aircraft in the state register, by the beginning of 2025 there were only two left, and even those are not airworthy.
Experts point out that it was precisely by the decisions of the previous leadership of the State Aviation Service (the head of the regulator Oleksandr Bilchuk and his deputy Ihor Zelinskyi) that these aircraft were excluded from the Ukrainian register and actually came under Russia's control. During this period, regulatory decisions were also made aimed at creating artificial obstacles to the operation of Il-76 in Ukraine, which can be considered undermining the state's defense capabilities.
In addition, since the 1990s, it was possible to operate Il-76MD aircraft without additional paperwork for their re-registration between various departments, including the Ministry of Defense. In June 2023, when Zelinskyi was acting head of the State Aviation Service, after appeals from representatives of the aviation market and the Ministry of Defense, he officially confirmed the absence of obstacles to the use of transport aircraft in the interests of Ukraine.
However, six months later, in December, he changed his mind, stating that Il-76MDs do not have civil type certificates and cannot be registered. As a result, the use of aircraft for military, humanitarian, and evacuation missions was blocked. In addition, this decision led to the downtime of aircraft and additional budget expenditures for their maintenance.
It should be noted that after the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's invasion of Donbas, Ukraine imposed sanctions against the Russian developer of Il-76 aircraft, PJSC "Il". That is, any cooperation with this Russian enterprise is prohibited.
Despite this, Zelinskyi issued dozens of airworthiness review certificates for aircraft based on the decision of the sanctioned PJSC "Il" from June 2022. In fact, in this way, he legalized the use of documents from the aggressor country's enterprise, which, according to experts, could have brought tens of millions of dollars in revenue to the Russian side.
In addition, Zelinskyi ignored the fact that there is a certified organization in Ukraine capable of providing appropriate support for Il-76 aircraft of PJSC "Il" without involving Russian sanctioned companies that are part of the aggressor country's military-industrial complex.
As representatives of the aviation market explained to UNN, Zelinskyi's decision put Il-75 aircraft operators before a choice: either cooperate with the Russian sanctioned developer or abandon the use of aircraft.
What does the Vice Prime Minister's office think about such a candidate?
Commenting on the facts outlined above and answering UNN's question why Zelinskyi is a good candidate for the position of head of the State Aviation Service, Oleksiy Kuleba could not explain anything, except that "this issue is not simple, it is complex."
After that, he redirected the question to Serhiy Derkach, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine. He is responsible for the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of aviation transport and infrastructure, as well as the use of Ukrainian airspace.
Today, the State Aviation Service is also going through a very difficult period, as there is still a lot of work to be done, but, of course, with closed skies, this does not motivate the staff as much as everyone else. Therefore, today we are working on all personnel decisions to find the best candidates who have experience in aviation in general, so that we can make the best personnel decisions.
It seems that the candidate for the head of the regulator was chosen not for professional qualities and indicators of effective performance in office, but on the principle: if you know a little about aviation, you fit.
Shifting responsibility, Derkach noted that the decision is up to the Cabinet of Ministers, which must determine who will be the best head of the State Aviation Service.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that the regulator is a very important body that "must actively work to preserve all civil aviation in Ukraine."
Today, as part of our constant work during such a full-scale invasion to preserve our aviation, because it is very difficult, in principle, to work with the development and preservation of civil aviation when our airspace is closed and we spend a lot of resources to preserve our airports, so that our airlines have valid certificates and fly, as they currently fly abroad, and this is also a very large part of the work of the State Aviation Service.
At the same time, for some reason, he missed the point that Zelinskyi was precisely one of those who obviously worked to destroy aviation in Ukraine.
Derkach also noted that an official investigation was conducted, the results of which concluded that the head of the State Aviation Service, Oleksandr Bilchuk, supported the decision to transfer the maintenance of repair documentation for Mi-8MT(MTV) helicopters to AAL Group Ltd, which is associated with the Russian military-industrial complex. After that, the Government dismissed him from his post. However, he remained silent about the need for an official check regarding the decisions of Bilchuk's "right hand."
It is obvious that the facts presented cannot remain without a reaction from both the Government and law enforcement agencies. UNN sent a corresponding request to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, and received an interim reply stating that the request had been redirected to the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development (apparently to the same Derkach) and that more time was needed to prepare answers to our questions.