Kalashnyk selects leadership for the Shipping Administration: candidates include "Pasha 500" and a former Regional Party member

Mykola Kalashnyk, the Minister of Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine, is considering several candidates for leadership positions in the Shipping Administration. Among the options under review are Nataliia Dralova, Pavlo Bulanovych, who is identified in the media by the nickname "Pasha 500", and Anatoliy Yablunovskyi.

Nataliia Dralova: candidate without relevant education

Nataliia Dralova is being considered for the position of head of the Shipping Administration. According to available information, she does not hold a degree related to the maritime industry.

Dralova's professional experience covers both the private sector and public service. Between 2018 and 2020, she held executive positions at the company Risoil Port and the enterprise "Anser Logistic". She also worked in an executive role at the State Hydrography Service, where she was responsible for audit, procurement and legal support issues.

A candidate with no obvious merits but with ambitions to lead the industry is evidently a "convenient person" behind whom others' decisions and potential schemes can be hidden.

Pavlo Bulanovych: environmental scandals and political past

Pavlo Bulanovych is being considered for the position of first deputy head of the Shipping Administration. His area of responsibility is set to include the certification of seafarers, oversight of educational institutions and training centres, as well as the coordination of the activities of the state enterprise "Morrichservice".

In 2021–2022, Bulanovych held the position of director of the ecology department of the Odesa Regional State Administration, working under the leadership of then-head of the Odesa Regional State Administration Serhiy Hrynevetskyi.

In the media space, he is criticised for supporting Viktor Yanukovych during the 2004 elections and for participating in the Sievierodonetsk congress. His co-authorship of the 2010 language bill and his connections with Boris Kaufman are also mentioned.

The publication "Zelenyi lyst" expressed dissatisfaction with decisions made in the environmental sector with Bulanovych's involvement. Among other things, it mentioned the removal of firs near the building of the Odesa Regional State Administration and the financial calculations for the regional environmental programme for 2024–2028.

«Що стосується екології, запам'ятався як безпринципний "схемник" і ненависник всього живого. У 2023 році "погорів" на схемі з незаконною вирубкою понад 1200 дерев у новоствореному НПП "Куяльницький" (збитки понад 100 мільйонів гривень) і був звільнений з займаної посади» (Regarding ecology, he is remembered as a principle-less "schemer" and a hater of all living things. In 2023, he "burned" on a scheme involving the illegal felling of over 1,200 trees in the newly established Kuyalnytskyi National Nature Park (damages exceeding 100 million hryvnias) and was dismissed from his position), the publication states.

Bulanovych has repeatedly come under the scrutiny of law enforcement agencies for various reasons, such as abuse of authority, misconduct during tender procurement processes, and receipt of undue benefit.

Anatoliy Yablunovskyi: former Regional Party member and port procurement

Anatoliy Yablunovskyi is being considered for the position of deputy head of the Shipping Administration. His competence may cover state supervision and control, as well as the operations of relevant enterprises.

Yablunovskyi's political career is linked to the Party of Regions. In 2010, he was elected as a deputy of the Yuzhne City Council from this party. After its dissolution, he joined the "Opposition Bloc" faction. In 2020, he ran for the Odesa Regional Council from Serhiy Kyvalov's Ukrainian Maritime Party.

A separate stage of his biography is linked to the stevedoring company "Avlita" in Sevastopol. According to published data, between 2012 and 2016, Yablunovskyi managed the company's production, part of which coincided with the period of Russia's occupation of Crimea.

In October 2019, while serving as the acting head of the "Pivdennyi" port, Yablunovskyi signed a contract for the procurement of a video surveillance system worth 65,890,692.94 hryvnias.