ElitExpert continues a series of interviews with people who have become laureates National rating of influence "Elite of Ukraine"-2021.
Today's interlocutor of the agency is Dmitry Kovbasyuk, a deputy of the Odesa Regional Council, lawyer and public figure, author of educational projects for talented children of the region.
— Dmitry, you are a self-sufficient young man who has achieved success in the business sphere. And now there is also the "new face" of the "Servants of the People" party in the Odesa Regional Council, how do you feel about this status?
— I am not such a "new face" in the politics of the Odesa region. After all, I have been engaged in this activity for seven years: 5 years in the Lyman district council, and already the second year in the Odesa regional council. At the same time, I initially had a high place in the party list "Servants of the People", but I received more support from voters in the Lyman district, I won a lot of votes in my district, and therefore I entered the regional council not on the list, but from the district. It is very important for me that people have given high marks for the work that our large team does for them.
— Today it is customary to scold the "Servant of the People" for numerous economic and political failures in Ukraine, the party's ratings are falling. And to you, who are in the situation, do you think that the country is moving in the right direction, or is the criticism of the party justified?
— President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won 73% of public support, which is a huge vote of confidence. He helped the "Servant of the People" party to become the winner of the parliamentary elections, to create a monomajority in the Verkhovna Rada. Therefore, it is natural that the losers use every opportunity to shake up the situation and do everything to reduce the ratings of "Servant of the People" as much as possible. And this is absolutely normal in the political struggle.
But I am absolutely not disappointed in the work of the president and his team. Everyone sees how roads, kindergartens, schools, and social facilities are being built in Ukraine. I went to Berdychev not so long ago and was convinced by my own experience that the entire road from Odessa to Berdychev was simply perfect, there was not a single pothole anywhere. At the same time, even a couple of years ago it was almost impossible to drive through.
There are actually hundreds of such examples. A few days ago, the largest cable-stayed bridge in Ukraine, connecting the banks of the Dnieper, was opened in Zaporozhye. First, one new lane was opened on our Khadzhibey bridge, then a second - and today everyone can comfortably travel from Kyiv to Odessa for vacation and vice versa.
— Everything you are talking about concerns the "Big Construction" project, this is a top topic to which attention is focused. And the party is criticized for the second - for the lack of fight against corruption, failure to fulfill pre-election promises...
- I do not agree with this. The situation in the country has changed a lot. As an example, I can tell you about the construction industry in which I work. If earlier it was almost impossible to get a permit from the State Gas Agency, now in the "Action" application it is done literally in one or two days. Building a private house is not a problem at all. If you have properly prepared documents for the land, then you simply upload them to Diya, shake your head two or three times in front of the camera, and the next day you will receive a permit. It is necessary to understand that GASK has always been one of the most corrupt institutions, under any government, and now there is no corruption in principle!
The same is happening in many other areas. With the help of the same "Action" it is possible to receive any information, now it will soon be possible to register in a few minutes - without long standing in queues, in housing offices.
Or, for example, the preparation of documents for real estate transactions, statements that were made a month earlier - and that, provided that the person "deposited" the money. Now they are quickly done electronically through electronic services and a cadastral map. In this way, corruption can be defeated where officials have been removed from the process and they do not personally communicate with people. We have the same thing in the field of registration of property rights: you submit documents through Tsnap and get everything quickly, even without directly dealing with the registrars.
— You said that building became easier. However, many people will disagree with you in Odessa. On the contrary, recently businessmen complain that today the main problem of construction is the difficulty of obtaining city-planning conditions...
- In the city, it is always much more difficult to get any documents than in the villages adjacent to the city. But it is very important to understand that the city is not a presidential vertical, it is local self-government. There is practically no corruption in GASC, but local authorities issue city-planning conditions and restrictions. At the same time, the situation is different in each settlement — somewhere documents are issued more easily, somewhere more complicated. But this is definitely not the president's area of responsibility. Yes, he can initiate large-scale inspections of any department, but it is already clear from experience that the best way to fight corruption is to use electronic services as much as possible and remove the "human factor".
— And how are things with the "human factor" in the regional council? Nothing interferes with your parliamentary activities, are you able to constructively resolve issues in the session hall?
— As a deputy of the regional council, I do the same things as before - in particular, our educational project UFuture, I spend a lot of time supporting children, that is why I joined the commission for education, sports and youth policy. The money that was allocated based on my requests was mainly directed to the youth. For example, at the expense of the regional budget, we bought a school bus for the Kryzhanovsky school, built a new modern sports ground (football, volleyball, basketball and workout) at the Aleksandrovsky school, built a playground for younger children in Chernomorsky (Chabanke).
I can say that all issues in the regional council are now being resolved constructively, there are no political conflicts. The items of the agenda are worked out in advance at the commissions, brought to the session and voted on. And I will say that the difference between working in the district council and the regional council is only in the scope of the tasks and the number of people with whom one has to work.
— What goals have you set for yourself in 2022?
- One of my priorities for this year will be the construction of the Forest Boulevard in Fontanka - this is a road to the sea between the village and the forest, which is almost impossible to reach now. We will make a full-fledged road there, with sidewalks for pedestrians, while not snagging a single tree. We will make it so that people feel comfortable resting there, in order to attract the maximum number of tourists to this part of the Odesa region. Many local residents in the summer period rent housing to vacationers, there are mini-hotels, and our task is that tourists leave as much money as possible in this region, filling the community budget, which, in turn, will be used for the development of infrastructure and the creation of comfortable conditions for people
The second priority is the Novodofynov school, one of the best schools in the district, which still does not have a sports ground. We have already made a project, and this year there will certainly be an excellent modern sports ground.
— You became a laureate of the National rating of influence "Elite of Ukraine". What do the concepts of "influence" and "elitism" mean to you?
— I believe that the elite are people who can change life in the country for the better, therefore, with their example, knowledge and capabilities, they do everything to make our country develop.
— What, apart from politics and parliamentary activity, do you live now?
— I work in the large company "Riviera Development", where I have a large area of responsibility - mainly legal support, communication with local and state authorities. In addition, in my free time I like to play football and do sports.
— Have you thought about your further political future?
— There are no global plans yet. Maybe I will run again for the regional council; perhaps, if I feel greater support from the population, and to higher authorities. But until I think about it, there is still a lot of work ahead in the regional council.
Interviewed by Elena Ovchinnikova
Photo: Sergey Lyashonok
