I support the non-aligned and permanently neutral status of Ukraine, as stipulated in the fundamental document of our state — the Declaration of State Sovereignty of July 16, 1990. The issue of Euro-Atlantic or other integration can be resolved only by holding a nationwide referendum. That is why it is not worth considering the problem of corruption in the context of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. My vision of the country’s project involves reducing the role of the President and a clearer division of functions. The functions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in peacetime should be performed by the Minister of Defense, in wartime by the Head of Government. The Minister of Defense should be an exclusively professional military man, his main task is not to solve economic problems, where the main corruption schemes are concentrated, but to ensure the defense of the state. Corruption in the defense sector is an independent problem that must be severely punished. All non-weapons procurements are based on the same principles as in civilian practice, through a system of transparent competitions, where any company can compete with an individual entrepreneur or an international organization. There will also be a Public Council under the Ministry of Defense, whose members will be submitted for consideration by the commission by the Ukrainian Union of Veterans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as volunteer organizations.
The Ministry of Defense will have to report quarterly on the volume of purchases that are not directly state secrets. Public procurement through transparent online competitions is my priority as a candidate for President of Ukraine. The rest of the information will be controlled by members of the National Security and Defense Council and the Public Council, who must have the appropriate status of access to secret information (and strict criminal liability for its disclosure).
The Ministry of Defense should be supervised by the National Security and Defense Council. State procurement related to military equipment and weapons will be controlled by the National Security and Defense Council.
The main task of Ukroboronprom is to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with modern weapons and equipment. At the strategic level, it is necessary to move to the concept of medium-term planning of research and production, with the establishment of clear indicators of success for top managers and those responsible for individual sectors of Ukroboronprom, with appropriate financial incentives for their work in the form of bonuses and premiums. At the tactical level, it is necessary to ensure a full inventory and urgent repair of existing weapons and equipment.
Illegal trade is a consequence of the existence of uncontrolled territories as such. Therefore, it is necessary to implement a comprehensive peace plan that provides for their return. The loss of territories is associated with the loss of trust of people living in such regions in the central government of Ukraine. It is necessary to ensure equality of all citizens before the law, to start broad political discussions with opponents, to ensure real decentralization, which involves transferring the lion’s share of powers to manage financial resources to the localities, as well as to introduce broad opportunities for organizing nationwide and local referendums. The solution to the Donbas problem should be based on the Minsk agreements, the strategy for reintegration of the territories should include the cessation of blockades and the creation of artificial walls and borders, the beginning of a broad public and political dialogue. The use of the army, that is, the force scenario, cannot be used as a tool for solving the problems of uncontrolled territories. On the contrary, its use will lead to further disintegration and people’s distrust of the state.
We proceed from the general concept of building an army. The concept of the structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, developed by a group led by Lieutenant General Oleksandr Chapovsky, allows for high mobility, self-sufficiency, and high combat effectiveness of troops with a total strength of 280 thousand people. In addition, a fundamentally different principle of using the National Guard of Ukraine as formations, territorial defense units, and the active army reserve is envisaged, which, if necessary, is deployed into an additional army with a strength of 250 thousand people. Based on the problem of reviewing and restructuring the army command system, a structural inventory and optimization of real estate owned by the army in accordance with real needs is necessary. State acts and cadastral numbers of plots must be obtained for all land belonging to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Surplus land, in agreement with the Cabinet of Ministers and local authorities, may be transferred to the state reserve fund, managed by local communities, sold through open tenders, at land auctions, etc.
The correct organization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provides for the formation of a Fund for providing housing for military personnel. A way to solve this issue may be a combined approach, consisting of two programs. The first is a targeted housing construction program, which is fully financed from the state budget. The second is the construction of houses for military personnel on a 50:50 parity basis with the involvement of their own funds, with the possibility of long-term lending to such households. The appropriate resources can, in particular, be attracted through the sale of defense lands, the implementation of public-private partnership programs.
