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Heorhiy Kyrpa

Heorhiy Kyrpa (Ukrainian Георгій Кирпа)(July 20, 1946 in Klubivka, Khmel'nyts'ka oblast' - December 27, 2004 in Bortnychi, near Kyiv) was a Ukrainian reforming bureaucrat, a manager in the transportation sector and politician.

As general director of the Ukrainian national railroad company Ukrzaliznytsia he showed himself more effective than many of the post-Communist bosses. When he took on the job, it was estimated that Ukrzaliznytsias received cash credits for only 15% of the transportation services it rendered: the rest were taken in kind. Only a third of its earnings were retained by the corporation. Kyrpa eliminated the intermediaries who were raking off a percentage on all transactions, and at the same time he raised tariffs to make the railroads profitable, moves that did not make him popular among entrenched populist leaders, though under his regime the workers' salary arrears were brought up to date.

In May 2002, Kyrpa was appointed Minister of Transport by President Leonid Kuchma. In a publicly debated move in 2003, the President placed paramilitary railroad armed forces under the direction of Kyrpa. He was a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who was defeated in the fiercely contested 2004 presidential elections.

Heorhiy Kyrpa was found shot dead at his holiday home in Bortnychi just outside of Kyiv, December 27, 2004. Police suspects he commited suicide, and has started an investigation under the article coercion to commit suicide. Officials in the ministry link the death with malversation of public founds during the contruction of a new bridge over the Dnipro river in Kyiv. Some suspect that Kyrpa who supplied Yanukovych with free trains to bring miners from Donbas to Kyiv in order to intimidate the opposition during the Orange Revolution now hesitated to do so, fearing either the possible outcome or simply being brought to justice after the opposition assumes power.

External link

  • Reaction to his appointment as Minister of Transport http://eng.for-ua.com/comments/2002/05/11/154614.html
  • BBC reports of his death http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4129091.stm