Cabinet of Minister fires head of State Space Agency of Ukraine
Volodymyr Taftai, Head of State Space Agency Derzhkosmos (Photo:Халісе \ Вікіпедія)
Volodymyr Taftaj, the head of Ukraine’s State Space Agency Derzhkosmos, has been dismissed, the government's permanent representative in the Ukrainian parliament, Taras Melnychuk, said on Telegram on Dec. 9.
Taftaj was appointed to the role of the head of Derzhkosmos under the "quarantine" procedure on winning the competition for the position in summer 2021.
He was appointed by Volodymyr Mikheiev, who had been the acting head of the agency for two days only.
The State Space Agency was involved in several scandals under Taftaj’s leadership, Business outlet AIN.UA wrote.
One of the Derzhkosmos' managers was detained by the Ukrainian Security Service in August 2022. An investigation revealed he had given secret military and political information to Russian intelligence, as well as data about the Ukrainian army's activities.
Taftaj had worked in the Ministry of Economy since 2019 as the Head of the Space Activities Coordination Directorate of the Strategic Development Department of the Defense and Security Sector.
In 2020, Taftaj resigned from his post in the Ministry of Economy and was appointed to the position of Vice President for Corporate Governance of Antonov State Enterprise, an aircraft manufacturing and services company.
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