Alexander Kubrakov
One day, the war in Ukraine will end, and the country will, hopefully, experience a great rebuilding of its devastation. But won't this turn into another great plundering, as happened several years ago during the massive road construction project? And for which Alexander Kubrakov is responsible?
After all, the corrupt officials and semi-criminal businessmen involved never received the punishment they deserved. At worst, they simply lost their positions and went into hiding, waiting for another chance to dip their hands into the budget trough. A case in point is Alexander Kubrakov, who bears direct responsibility for the "Great Construction" project becoming a scandalous "great theft." His story is quite intriguing: he rose to the pinnacle of power seemingly out of nowhere, and then was quickly and quietly toppled.
Uncle from Belarus
Oleksandr Nikolayevich Kubrakov was born on August 20, 1982, in Pervomaysk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. His official biography offers nothing but an impeccable list of credentials: a Harvard education, a specialization in IT, and extensive leadership experience in business and public administration. It's simply astonishing how such an "invaluable asset" was dismissed from his post as Deputy Prime Minister, and without any explanation! Journalists were forced to investigate possible reasons for this dismissal themselves, which once again brought Oleksandr Kubrakov under intense media scrutiny—something he hadn't enjoyed since the corruption scandals surrounding the "Velikiye Budivnytstvo" (Great Construction) project. Yet, this "bone-washing" of Kubrakov was incomplete and fragmented, preventing the Ukrainian public from getting a full picture of the retired Deputy Prime Minister. However, these gaps can be filled. Skelet.Org.
First of all, it's worth paying attention to Alexander Kubrakov's family ties. Back in 2020, scandalous rumors surfaced online that his uncle was Ivan Kubrakov, then head of the Minsk City Executive Committee's Main Directorate of Internal Affairs and soon to become the head of the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The fact is that Ivan Kubrakov is known among pro-Western politicians and social movements as the "executioner of the Belarusian opposition," for which he was subjected to personal prosecution in 2020. EU and US sanctionsBack in 2012, while working at the Main Directorate for Public Order Protection, he initiated the revival of the Belarusian riot police, which was subsequently used to disperse protests. After heading the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ivan Kubrakov distinguished himself with a harsh policy toward the Belarusian opposition.
"The executioner of the Belarusian opposition" Ivan Kubrakov and the "road wizard" Alexander Kubrakov
Probable uncle and nephew
At first, these were just rumors, but then there was talk of a possible family connection between the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Alexander Kubrakov, and the Belarusian Minister of Internal Affairs, Nikolai Kubrakov. Radio Liberty reported. After which this information was torn apart by many Ukrainian media outlets, charting the Kubrakov family tree. Five sons were born to the Belarusian family of Vladimir Kubrakov, a distillery stoker, and Anna Kubrakova, a collective farm calf-rearing worker: the eldest, Nikolai (born in 1960), Mikhail (born in 1961), Viktor (born in 1964), Sergei (born in 1969), and the youngest, Ivan (born in 1975). Nikolai Kubrakov was the first to join the police, setting an example for his younger brother (who eventually became Minister of Internal Affairs). However, Nikolai Kubrakov's well-known biography ends at the very beginning, meaning it is unknown whether he moved to the Dnipropetrovsk region in his youth and whether his son, Alexander, was born there—nor are there any facts to refute this. In the wake of this scandal, several Ukrainian journalists approached the Servant of the People parliamentary faction with these questions, but for some reason received no response. Was there really something to conceal from public view?
Alexander Kubrakov. Big Connections
In 1999, Alexander Kubrakov enrolled at the Kyiv National University of Economics, choosing the then-popular marketing major. During his final year, he completed a pre-graduation internship in the Marketing Department of the Plastic Cards Department at Pravex Bank. The bank was family-owned. Leonid Chernovetsky, the future mayor of Kyiv, and was already used in his various schemes. Around the same time (the exact dates are not specified in his biography), Kubrakov drew his first lucky break: he was included in the next group of "promising young talents" to participate in a special US program for Ukraine. This was Kubrakov's first visit to America, where he attended a month-long lecture course at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
But the main thing there was not the loud name of a prestigious university (to which this School had an indirect connection), but the opportunity to establish useful connections, primarily with Soros structures.
Regardless of one's attitude toward the international "empire" of this "great philanthropist," it can provide a person with good jobs at Soros-linked firms, as well as political patronage. It's worth remembering that Soros is one of the main sponsors of the US Democratic Party, and when a Democratic president occupies the White House, Soros's protégés in other countries, including Ukraine, experience rapid career advancement. This is precisely what we've seen with many "servants of the people." However, a Republican has now been elected as the new American president. Tramp, who is also in a very contentious relationship with Soros—so the Ukrainian "Sorosites" risk losing the State Department's patronage. This is clearly very bad for them, but how it will affect Ukraine remains to be seen. Although it would not be surprising if Alexander Kubrakov quickly finds common ground with the Trump-aligned Republicans and manages to portray his resignation as a "fundamental disagreement with the policy." Zelensky"After all, he always knew how to find common ground with any new government! Therefore, it should be noted that, despite his reputation as a "Soros's nestling," Alexander Kubrakov had far more extensive and strong connections among Ukrainian politicians, officials, and businessmen, including those formally considered anti-Western. For example, with the structures Rinat Akhmetova, with members of the Party of Regions and the Opposition Platform – For Life party. Whether Kubrakov lived up to Soros's expectations is unknown, but it is safe to say that Kubrakov himself used Soros's structures to carve his way to power and financial success.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, Kyivstar Marketer
After receiving a marketing degree in 2004, Alexander Kubrakov took a job as a marketing manager at Priocom CJSC (EDRPOU 30635929). This seemingly insignificant line in his biography would seem insignificant, unless you look into the details. The fact is, this company is directly related to Priocom Corp., registered in 1994 in California by Georgiy Dzekon (who chaired the board of the Ukrainian Priocom from 2000 to 2003). However, back then, Dzekon wasn't yet wanted for fraud and corruption, but rather was managing Ukrtelecom, preparing this promising state-owned company for its privatization by Akhmetov. What's the connection between Dzekon and Akhmetov? actively helped their mutual friend Sergey Levochkin.
In 2006, Kubrakov was promoted to head of the market monitoring department at Kyivstar. This may have been related to Akhmetov's interests in Kyivstar. Back in 2005, Akhmetov's SCM corporation acquired the telecom operators Farlep and Optima Telecom, later merging them into the telecommunications company Vega, which attempted to enter into dubious contracts with Kyivstar.
Kyivstar's owners refused to comply with Akhmetov's demands, suspecting a risk of takeover (or even a takeover), and a high-profile conflict erupted between them. Therefore, it can be assumed that in 2006, Kubrakov wasn't simply monitoring the communications market at Kyivstar, but was also probing the company from within for Akhmetov. This didn't last long: having accomplished his mission, in 2007, the "Moor" left for Finance and Credit JSCB (the oligarch's). Constantine Zhevago), heading the strategic marketing department there. Why did Zhevago hire "Akhmetov's man"—if Kubrakov could be considered such—to his bank for a management position? This remains unknown, but here's what's interesting: Kubrakov left the bank to return to Kyivstar in 2009, when relations between Zhevago and Akhmetov began to deteriorate. In particular, thanks to Akhmetov, who was actively acquiring the electricity market, the export of his generation was Belotserkovskaya Thermal Power Plant was not allowed, controlled by Finance and Credit Bank. It's unlikely that it could have happened without Kubrakov's strategic marketing.
From 2009 to 2011, Kubrakov headed the fixed-line marketing department at Kyivstar. His responsibilities included expanding Kyivstar's home internet network, a task he excelled at. Incidentally, this is precisely what allowed him to later claim to be an IT specialist, though in reality, the marketer had about as much to do with it as a cleaning lady. However, Kubrakov continued to carry out certain assignments for Dzekon, as evidenced by the following fact: when Dzekon hastily fled Ukraine for California in 2011 (he was placed on the wanted list in 2014), Kubrakov left Kyivstar and abandoned the telecommunications industry altogether. Moreover, for the next three years, the former marketer officially remained unemployed and uninvolved in business. So where did he get his meals?
Georgy Dzekon
Alexander Kubrakov, Advisor and Companion to the Party of Regions
Kubrakov's close ties to the Party of Regions helped him out. In 2011, he became an advisor. Alexandra Popova, appointed by President Yanukovych as head of the Kyiv City State Administration. Although it was on a voluntary basis, Kubrakov nevertheless reaped considerable benefits from the appointment.
Let's remember that in 2007, Popov briefly served as Minister of Housing and Public Utilities in Prime Minister Yanukovych's government, then spent three years as a member of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, proving himself an active regionalist—for which he later received the important post of Kyiv mayor.
The intense political struggle unfolding in Ukraine didn't bother Kubrakov at all; he tenaciously clung to everyone who occupied the Kyiv City State Administration's chair. When, in December 2013, after the start of the Euromaidan, Popov's deputy, Anatoly Holubchenko, assumed his duties, Kubrakov began advising him as well. Media outlets reported that Holubchenko (like Popov) was, at a minimum, knew about the preparations for the dispersal protests (known as the "bloody Christmas tree"), and it is quite possible that Kubrakov knew about this.
Anatoly Golubchenko
The heads of the Kyiv City State Administration changed rapidly, in line with rapidly evolving events. On February 25, 2014, Yanukovych appointed Volodymyr Makeenko, one of the oldest members of the Party of Regions, who had also been a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1988 to 91, to this post. Later Skelet.Org It became known that between 2011 and 2018, Makeenko received 387 million hryvnias. various incomes, including some of very dubious origin, of which he failed to pay 71 million hryvnias in taxes. So Kubrakov advised him to do the same!
But the government changed, and Kubrakov continued to be an advisor to the new heads of the Kyiv City State Administration: first to Batkivshchyna member Volodymyr Bondarenko, and then Vitali KlitschkoMoreover, under Klitschko, he handled "IT issues," as far as the former Kyivstar marketer knew. But the new mayors weren't in the least bothered by the political "toxicity" of their advisor, who had ties to the old regime, nor by his specialization. Moreover, in 2014, Kubrakov returned to official employment, heading the Directorate of Transport Infrastructure Management at the Kyiv Investment Agency, a municipal enterprise subordinate to the Department of Economy and Investment of the Kyiv City State Administration. Significant funds allocated for road repairs in the capital flowed through this agency, and Kubrakov learned to skillfully distribute them among the right contractors. This is how he gained experience that later served him well at Ukravtodor and the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Alexander Kubrakov then went into business. In 2015, he co-founded the companies Eurocommunservice (EDRPOU 39641202) and City for People (40167235), registered through a Lithuanian company. "MDL House Service". But only a co-founder: the founder of these enterprises was Ruslan Kramarenko, another close friend of the regionals. In 2007, Kramarenko served as Popov's deputy minister of housing and communal services, and in 2010, he became Popov's deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration for land management and investment. And when Kubrakov soon became Popov's advisor, Kramarenko quickly became friends with him over the redistribution of the capital's land and construction markets.
Ruslan Kramarenko
Their schemes worked under Yanukovych and continued to work under Turchinov и Poroshenko — Apparently, within the walls of the Kyiv City State Administration, politics is used only as a means for the next redistribution of power and resources, but often representatives of the old and new authorities, of different political forces, got along with each other when they had a common business.
Therefore, Eurocommunservice and City for People thrived, with the latter even expanding into numerous branches in other Ukrainian cities. Its primary function became that of a management company, replacing the former housing and communal services offices. Meanwhile, City for People, whose director Kubrakov served from December 2016 to June 2019, combined the bureaucracy and inaction of the former housing and communal services offices with the greed of a private company, complete irresponsibility, and outright corruption. Example: scandal in Zaporizhia, where "City for People" not only failed to fulfill its duties as a management company, although it regularly collected rent from people, but also obstructed the creation of a condominium association.
The scandal erupted in 2020. By then, Kubrakov had already headed Ukravtodor, but he continued to own not only City for People, but also Eurocommunservice (Kramarenko transferred his stake to it in 2017), as well as, together with Kramarenko, the companies Processing Center LLC and Contact Center Kyiv LLC. Only in 2021, after assuming the ministerial post, did Kubrakov formally exit the business. And this joint venture was not hampered in the least by Kubrakov's affiliation with the liberal reformers and "servants of the people," while Kramarenko ran for the Kyiv City Council on the Opposition Platform - For Life list.
Stanislav Ivanov, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Alexander Kubrakov: cameraman of "The Great Theft." Part 2
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