Reconstruction Official Resigns, Highlighting Tensions in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s top official for the reconstruction of the war-torn east resigned on Tuesday, citing a lack of support from the government and a failure to secure funding for projects to rebuild the region.
Vitaly Skabey, the head of the Reconstruction and Development Council, said in a statement that he was stepping down because of “the lack of political will and the inability to secure funding for the implementation of the projects.”
Mr. Skabey’s resignation comes as Ukraine is struggling to rebuild the east, where a conflict between government forces and Russian-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. The region has been devastated by fighting, with entire towns and villages destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.
The conflict has also left a deep economic scar, with the region’s industrial heartland, the Donbas, suffering from a lack of investment and a brain drain of skilled workers.
Mr. Skabey’s resignation highlights the tensions between the government in Kyiv and the regions, particularly the east, which has long felt neglected by the central authorities. The government has struggled to find the funds to rebuild the region, and many residents have grown frustrated with the slow pace of reconstruction.
In his statement, Mr. Skabey said that the government had failed to provide the necessary funding for reconstruction projects, and that he had been unable to secure international support for the effort.
“The lack of political will and the inability to secure funding for the implementation of the projects has led to a situation where the reconstruction of the Donbas is not moving forward,” he said.
Mr. Skabey’s resignation was announced by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in a statement that he had accepted Mr. Skabey’s resignation and thanked him for his work.
“I appreciate the work of Vitaly Skabey and his team in the Reconstruction and Development Council,” Mr. Zelensky said. “I thank him for his contribution to the development of the Donbas and wish him success in his future endeavors.”
It is not clear who will replace Mr. Skabey as head of the Reconstruction and Development Council.