Brussels Forum Session: Building for the Future: A Green Marshall Plan for Ukraine

Oleksandra Azarkhina is deputy minister for communities, territories and infrastructure development of Ukraine. Her primary tasks are developing and strengthening the defense capability of the critical infrastructure sector and general strategic planning for infrastructure.

Azarkhina is working to create a unified digital system for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This is a key state anti-corruption tool that guarantees transparency and accountability in implementing infrastructure projects. The basis of the system is a digital register of damaged and destroyed infrastructure that has already been developed and approved at the state level.

Also within Azarkhina’s area of responsibility are logistics, particularly the construction of a multimodal transport system; anti-corruption policy, including the creation of transparent digital infrastructure management in cooperation with international partners; and collection and analysis of statistical information (Big Data).

Before she was appointed to the post of deputy minister of infrastructure, Azarkhina served as communications manager of the Reform Support Team of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine (2018–20); director of the Reform Support Team at the State Roads Agency of Ukraine (2020–22); and external adviser to the minister of infrastructure of Ukraine (2021–22). 

Azarkhina is involved in formulating strategy for the postwar recovery of Ukraine, namely the recovery of the Crimean Peninsula, and in the oversight of international humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. She is an ambassador of the Grain From Ukraine humanitarian program, the main task of which is to stabilize the global agricultural market and fight hunger in the world.

Brussels Forum Session: Fortifying the Future of Ukraine: Rebuilding Infrastructure for Resilience 

Oleksandr Kubrakov is deputy prime minister for the restoration of Ukraine—minister for communities, territories and infrastructure development of Ukraine. Prior to that, he served as minister of infrastructure of Ukraine (2021–22), and head of the State Agency of Motor Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) (2019–21).  

Kubrakov was elected to the Ukrainian parliament as a representative of the “Servant of the People” party in 2019 and served briefly before being appointed to his government position. Prior to that, he served as deputy director, then director of “City for People,” LLC, and as head of the telecommunications and IT sector at the independent think-tank Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO). In 2015–16, Kubrakov headed the project office at the Ministry of Justice.  

From 2011 to 2015, Kubrakov served in the Kyiv municipal government, first under Mayor Oleksandr Popov and then under Mayor Vitali Klitschko. While there, he rose to the position of director for transport infrastructure projects within the Kyiv Investment Agency. From 2006 to 2011, he held various positions at telecommunications company Kyivstar, rising eventually to the position of head of marketing.  

Kubrakov received a degree in marketing from the Kyiv National Economic University, and completed a short-term program at the Harvard Kennedy School.