Wojciech Balczun, the head of Ukrzalyznytsia — Ukraine’s state railway — resigned on Aug. 9, after just over a year in the job and amid conflict with the minister for infrastructure.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said on Aug. 9 that Balczun had resigned “for personal reasons” and thanked him for the job he had done. Balczun, a Polish citizen, had been Ukrzalyznytsia’s director since April 20, 2016.
Balczun wrote on his Facebook page that the job of head of Ukrzalizhytsya was “the most complicated and important mission in his business life,” but he didn’t say why he had decided to quit.
The Kyiv Post couldn’t reach Balczun for comment by the time this story was published.
Balczun also wrote that his team had managed to stabilize the company, improve its economic state, restore the reputation of the company abroad, draw in new investments, launch new passenger services and prepare a five-year strategy for their successors.
He said that in the first half of 2017 Ukrzalizhytsya made a profit of Hr 122.5 million, which is Hr 3.9 billion more than over the same period last year. He also said that during his time has railway head, cargo transportation had increased by 6.1 percent, from 89 billion tons per kilometer to 94.9 billion tons per kilometer.
Balczun’s resignation comes just over a month after he told the Kyiv Post that he wanted to stay on the job and see through the “hundreds of initiatives” he has launched.
“I want to stay. I have a bright vision of my future here, of what we want to achieve, what kind of goals we have on our list,” Balczun said on July 5. However, he also said that he was encountering opposition because he was independent and strived to remain above business and politics.
However, Balczun’s resignation came amid a simmering conflict with Interior Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, who has repeatedly accused the railways chief of “doing nothing.”
Omelyan and Balczun had a public spat on Jan. 25, when Balczun reported on his work to the Cabinet of Ministers. After the Ukrzalyznytsia head reported that Ukrzalyznytsia had made more than Hr 1 billion in profits in 2016, Omelyan accused Balczun of manipulating the numbers, saying that the profit had been the result not of reforms, but of increases in cargo tariffs.
Omelyan also blamed Balczun for Ukraine being left out of China’s “One Belt One Road,” or South Silk Road transport route initiative, from Asia to Europe.
Omelyan told the Kyiv Post on Aug. 8 that he “welcomes the long-overdue dismissal of Balczun.”
The Cabinet of Ministers in January took over responsibility for the management of Ukrzalyznytsia from the Infrastructure Ministry. Unlike Omelyan, Groysman publicly supported Balczun, describing him as a reformer.
Groysman said that the Ministry of Economy and Trade will hold an open competition to select the next head of Ukrzalyznytsia. Before the new head is chosen, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yevhen Kravtsov will be appointed as a temporary acting CEO.
Alexander Paraschiy, head of research at Concorde Capital, said that Balczun’s resignation after just 15 months is likely to be treated negatively by Ukrzaliznytsia’s investors.
“With Balczun, an acclaimed manager of Polish origin, Ukrzaliznytsia got a fresh chance to reform itself and change its business and marketing strategy for the better,” Paraschiy said.
