For decades, Ukraine has been paying an extremely high price for one of its main diseases — unprofessionalism in public administration. The systemic problem, which took root since independence, has not just been eradicated, but on the contrary, has strengthened and become the norm. People without professional training, understanding of how the state works, manage entire industries, develop and adopt laws, dispose of billions of budget money and decide the fate of millions of citizens. This leads to failures in everything from medicine to diplomacy, from energy to social policy.
At the same time, each new government, instead of breaking this harmful tradition, only reinforces it and blames all the troubles of its “predecessors”. “Your” people with thick wallets, godfathers, business partners, “media faces” have long become the main personnel principle of selection. Those who know how to speak slogans beautifully, nod loyally and obey political orders get the positions. And professionals who are able to make effective systemic decisions remain on board or are “retired”.
Who controls us?
Today, Ukraine is paying too high a price for personnel degradation — lost time and money, chaos in the state administration system, and the worst of all — human lives. Because in a warring country, unprofessionalism is no longer just a “failed reform” or a “failed project”, but a matter of national security and survival. However, even now, when global support and a historic chance give us the opportunity to turn the situation around, we again see people in key positions without expertise, experience and basic understanding of state processes. This vicious circle repeats itself over and over again, and the country rolls down a downward spiral.
There are thousands of examples of absurd personnel appointments, and it is impossible to list them all. We will cite only a few that clearly demonstrate the general trend where dilettantism is becoming the norm in state management. A recent example is the “powerful” appointment of musician and showman Mykola Serga and public activist Denys Kolyada as freelance advisers to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiga. And this despite the fact that this ministry now plays a key role in diplomacy and peace negotiations. A person with the background of a KVNshchik, a resident of Comedy Club Odessa and the program “Slaughter League”, the winner of the 8th season of “Laughter without rules”, the host of “Eagle and Tails” and a Russian-speaking performer suddenly gets the position of adviser in the system of the foreign policy department of a country that is at war. What kind of expertise in international relations this figure has is a mystery of the state secret level.
Who is Serga and what does he have to do with international politics? The musician comes from Odesa, he is an ecologist by education. Serga studied at the Odesa State Environmental University, but he left the acquired specialty to gather dust on his diploma – he did not work for a single day in his specialty. During his student years, he played in KVN and was a resident of the Russian Comedy Club. In 2009, he received his first portion of fame at the “Star Factory-3”, where he took third place, after which he created the group “The Kolya” and released two albums with loud names such as “Sex Sport Rocknroll”.
Later, Serga became the host of the show “Eagle and Tail”, traveled halfway around the world filming entertainment programs. And now he has become an adviser to the minister without diplomatic experience, professional education, but with a bright show business past. What will he advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs? How will you comment on international negotiations? Will he write rap songs for the diplomatic corps? Serga may be a talented showman, but how will his experience in singing, humor and hosting a travel show help Ukraine on the diplomatic front? Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs turned into a concert agency? Will international politics be decided through funny stand-ups and cultural landings?
Even more strange is the explanation of the personnel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who honestly admitted that such a position as a full-time adviser to the minister does not exist in the department at all. Therefore, Serga will provide his advice to the minister outside the state. So Serga will advise the minister as a freelancer – in fact, “an adviser on nothing”. So, while diplomats with many years of experience are standing in queues for contracts, people from TV are being recruited in the ministry “for a position for a tick”. It turns out that the decision on his appointment was made on December 7, 2024, but they “forgot” to inform the public about it. This became known only now – almost three months later. The information was published by the website “Glavkom” with reference to the head of the personnel management department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vitaly Moshkivskyi.
In addition to Serga, another “advisor” was officially appointed to the same “freelance” position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – a 31-year-old public figure (as he positions himself), a graduate of the Ukrainian Catholic University, but Protestant by faith, Denys Kolyady, who calls himself “the voice of Ukraine on the world religious map.” The wording is beautiful, but what is behind it is a rhetorical question. It is not known whether the voice will be heard at prayer breakfasts or at some Catholic forums. What did this “voice” work with before being assigned? With religious circles, of course, because Kolyada has no more to do with foreign policy than the singer Serga has to do with diplomacy.
However, it is known for certain that Kolyada is actively involved in PR in connection with the Vatican — regularly publishes photos with Pope Francis, talks about personal meetings, acquaintance through some Argentinian Protestant who is friends with the Pontiff. Whether this gives at least some real benefit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the state is the second question. Previously, Kolyada had already shined in politics – in 2019, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada from “Holos”, but flew past the parliament. But now he quietly “entered” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an adviser. This is another example of how it is not professionals and diplomats who come to power, but PR people who know how to take beautiful photos and make loud statements about nothing.
Another vivid example is the “interesting” New Year appointment of Ruslan Kravchenko as head of the State Tax Service. A lawyer by education, he worked in various positions in the prosecutor’s office, but never once dealt with taxes, economics or finance. But this did not stop anyone – a person without any specialized competence was put in charge of one of the country’s key economic bodies. Tax is about economy, finance, budget policy, international standards, not about prosecutorial habits and paper reports of criminal cases. But we have been “confused” for a long time, where to appoint whom – the main thing is to have “your own person”. By the way, Kravchenko has already made a name for himself in his attempts to get into the big seats — in 2019-2020, he applied to be a prosecutor of the SAP, but did not pass. And even earlier, he failed the integrity interview in the competition for the director of NABU. However, all this became not a problem, but rather a “recommendation” – and now a person who could not pass even a basic filter for honesty is in charge of the tax office. Then only space.
Iryna Venediktova is a separate masterpiece in the genre of “how to make a career without a single day of professional experience.” In 2020, the Verkhovna Rada solemnly appointed her as the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the first woman in this position. It sounds beautiful, like for history textbooks. The only nuance is that this “first woman” never worked as an investigator, did not investigate a single case, was not even close to a criminal trial. Before that, she was a People’s Deputy from the “Servant of the People” and managed to steal the DBR, also without understanding where and why. At one time, Venediktova even tried to become a judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. But she unexpectedly failed the competition, receiving less than the minimum permissible score. However, this “success” for some reason did not prevent her from becoming the Prosecutor General of the entire country. And she swore beautifully from the podium: no one would ever think that her appointment was a mistake. She promised not to merge cases, not to sell them, to reform the prosecutor’s office and start with an efficiency audit.
Everyone remembers the result – in July 2022, she was quietly removed from her position for “the presence of collaborators in the structures of the prosecutor’s office” (she did not promise to fight them from a high platform) and the complete lack of results. But the system does not give up. Venediktova with all this “track record” was appointed… Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Switzerland. From November 2022, she will officially represent the state in the international arena – all without specialized education, diplomatic experience, but with a baggage of failures. However, for three years, Ukrainians have not heard anything about her “effective work” on the diplomatic front. But why be surprised? Ukraine has long had a good tradition of sending all failed or simply inconvenient officials to ambassadors. The type was cleaned up beautifully, and it seems that there is no shame. And education, professionalism? But who needs them, when the main thing is to equip “their own”.
Consequences of appointing non-professionals
In Ukraine, it has become a rule for a long time: the higher the position a person receives, the less professional knowledge and competences he has. We have a lot of professionals. They are kept “on the bench” and thrown out of the system, because they are inconvenient, they cannot be “given a command” and be sure that they will do any stupid thing in order to keep their position. And convenient, loyal, media – this is the main currency of Ukrainian politics and state administration.
More examples? They cannot be counted. Scooter-riding Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, who himself called himself a “non-professional prime minister”, publicly declared that he “doesn’t know anything about the economy” – and at the same time decisively ruled the country. This is the same Honcharuk, who amused the public by skating through the corridors of the Cabinet of Ministers and was glad that he was just “for fun” to occupy the highest executive position. Next to him is the “legendary” Tymofiy Mylovanov, who shamelessly admitted to the cameras that he is “profane” and “doesn’t understand”, but this, they say, is even cool – because he is “honest”. The Minister of Economy of the country at the peak of the crisis is also a profane. And this is not a meme, but an official biography.
And then it gets worse. Whole battalions of artists, comedians, hairdressers, photographers, housewives, inexperienced youth with a dubious reputation are in the parliament. They write laws, decide the fate of the country, allocate budgets, and vote for state programs. People with no idea what government, economics, security or international relations are. Papers are pushed to them, and they press buttons (by the way, not for “thank you”). And then they wonder: “What, we voted for it?”. How can they all make laws? How can they manage ministries, departments, represent the country on the international stage? That’s right – no way. They only create the illusion of management, behind which there is banal cutting, irresponsibility and political expediency, that is, they drag the state more and more into the abyss.
Meanwhile, real professionals are those who have been building systems for years, who have experience, knowledge and understanding of how the state works, not in business. In the best case — in exile, in the worst — on the margins, “downed pilots.” They are afraid to appoint them, because they will not remain silent, will not sign a criminal order, will not “solve” issues for the superiors. Their time, they say, has already passed. And that is why every system in our country is collapsing — defense, tax, education, energy.
Replacing the content with a beautiful picture is the strategy of the state in recent decades. And then we wonder why defense contracts fail, why the country lives on loans, why the law enforcement or judicial system collapses, why even during war the state machine skids. Because it is not those who know how to rule, but those who have been appointed “for loyalty”. And that is why there will be no breakthrough, because there is no development in a country where the professional is the enemy of the system, and the profane is its face. The country will not get out of this abyss as long as the state is ruled “for fun”, “for friendship” or for money. Until competence becomes the only criterion for appointment, we will continue to sink, which we have been doing for a long time.
If we really want to see Ukraine successful and strong, it’s time to stop this long-term experiment with profane people in power. The country should be led forward by people who know how to do it – experienced statesmen, competent law enforcement officers, professional business managers. Such specialists are able to build systems, make effective decisions, take responsibility and really change the country, and not just generate loud empty slogans and post beautiful pictures on social networks. The return of professionals to the leadership is the only way to lead Ukraine out of chaos and begin real development. Time will tell whether the political will will eventually be enough to break the harmful tradition of appointing random people to top positions and start building a state based on competences. Because without it, talking about a successful future is pointless.
