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Mustafa Masi Nayyem (, ; born June 28, 1981) is an Afghan-Ukraine journalist, MP, lecturer at the Kyiv School of Economics, and public figure who was influential in sparking the Euromaidan in Ukraine. Since January 2023 Nayyem had been the head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development. He resigned (and was officially dismissed) in June 2024. Ukraine’s top reconstruction official quits in new blow for Zelenskyy, ft.com, June 10, 2024 Ukraine's Top Reconstruction Official Quits, time.com, June 10, 2024 Prior to this he was Deputy Minister of Infrastructure appointed in August 2021.
Formerly, before his bureaucratic career Nayyem was a reporter for the newspaper Kommersant Ukraine, the TVi channel, and the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda. He also participates in Ukrainian journalists' anti-censorship movement, "Stop the censorship!" (, Stop tsenzuri!), and Hromadske.TV. In the parliamentary elections he was elected to the Ukrainian parliament on the list of Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Nayyem did not take part in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.
Nayyem graduated from the Technical Lyceum in Kyiv in 1998, and the Aerospace Systems Department of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 2004. He speaks fluent Ukrainian, Pashto, Russian, and English.
He and Anastasia Ivanova who is from Lviv and was a photographer for Kommersant-Ukraine (), have a son, Mark-Mikhei (born 13 January 2008), and both mother and son are Jewish.
His brother Masi Nayem is a lawyer and, in April 2016, deployed as a Ukrainian paratrooper to the Donbas - Avdiivka which was the hottest point of the Russo-Ukrainian War. During the 2022 full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine Masi Nayem returned to the front. On 5 June 2022 his brother Mustafa Nayyem reported that he had been seriously injured. Masi Nayem survived his injuries, but lost one eye.
In 2009, Nayyem received national attention following Ukrayina TV channel's live discussion with then-presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych. During the discussion, he questioned Yanukovych about the latter's acquisition of the Mezhyhirya Residence. In 2010, Nayem was briefly detained by police officers, reportedly as a result of racial profiling for "persons of Caucasian appearance" (a common local term for people from the Caucasus). The following day, Nayem wrote an article in which described the events that led to his detention. He stated, "Xenophobia should not become the face of Ukrainian nationality" and requested the dismissal of one of the officers responsible.
Nayyem frequently contributes news and articles to Ukrayinska Pravda. From September 2011 to late April 2013, he worked for the Ukrainian television channel TVi. After resigning due to a conflict with the channel's new management, he started a web project together with colleagues who also left the channel. Their project was named Hromadske.TV.
In August 2016 Nayyem joined the (political party) Democratic Alliance. From Autumn 2015 until June 2016, he had been part of an attempt to form a political party around then Governor of Odesa Oblast Mikheil Saakashvili with members of the parliamentary group Interfactional Union "Eurooptimists", Democratic Alliance and possibly Self Reliance until this projection collapsed in June 2016.
In October 2014, in the Parliament, he was engaged in writing draft laws related to anti-corruption and law enforcement activities and was the author of the following draft laws:
In the same year, the curator of the launch of patrol police in Zakarpattia Oblast, namely in the cities of Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, as well as in Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Rubizhne, Mariupol.
On 28 February 2019 Nayyem voluntarily left the BPP faction.
On 21 June 2019 Nayyem announced that he would not take part in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election. The Economist described him in 2017 as a reformist parliamentarian.
In November 2019 Nayyem was appointed Deputy Director General of Ukroboronprom. Nayem got a position in "Ukroboronprom", Ukrayinska Pravda (21 November 2019) He was dismissed from this position on 29 April 2021 due to the position being abolished (which had not been communicated to him). Nayem is leaving Ukroboronprom: his position has been reduced, Ukrayinska Pravda (29 April 2021)
From 4 August 2021 to 28 January 2023 Nayyem was Deputy Minister of Infrastructure. About the appointment of Nayem Mustafa-Masi as Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (4 August 2021) Nayyem to Head State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, Kyiv Post (28 January 2023)
On 28 January 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed Nayyem as head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development. He resigned on 10 June 2024 after Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal denied his request to attend an upcoming summit on Ukraine's recovery from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Berlin. Nayyem also cited "systemic obstacles" from within the government that affected his duties for his resignation. The official reason given why he could not attend the summit was that Nayyem would have to attend a government meeting with the participation of the Restoration Agency that took place on the day of the conference. He was officially dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers on 18 June 2024.
Career
Journalism
Nayyem worked as a reporter for the Kommersant-Ukrainy newspaper from 2005 to 2007, and then for Savik Shuster, a political talk show on Ukrainian television, from 2007 to 2011.
Activism
Using Facebook, Nayyem was one of the first activists to urge Ukrainians to gather on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv to protest Viktor Yanukovych's decision to "pause" preparations for signing the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement (with the European Union). His post on Facebook on November 21, 2013, was a summons to rally for the Euromaidan protests which led to the overthrow of the Yanukovych government, in the so-called Revolution of Dignity.
Politics
Nayyem was included in the electoral list of Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) and elected to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) on the parliamentary elections of October 26, 2014. He was one of dozens of Euromaidan activists who pivoted from street politics into politics, where they sought to spearhead reform and turn Ukraine into a prosperous European state. The Streets To The Rada: Euromaidan Activists Enter Politics, October 29, 2014 Nayyem was a member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on issues of European integration. At the Rada session of 2 December 2014 he was the only deputy who voted against the cabinet of Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Поіменне голосування про проект Постанови про формування складу Кабінету Міністрів України (№1008) "Roll-call vote on the draft Resolution on the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine" Gradually he began to criticize the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) more and more and stopped voting in sync with it. According to deputy head of the PPB faction Oleksiy Honcharenko by February 2019 he had not attended PPB faction meetings for several years.
Cultural print in Ukrainian politics
Ukrainian entertaining group "Kvartal 95" mentioned Nayyem in their song about Ihor Kolomoyskyi (the name of latter omitted in the song) and their meeting in relation to the "Ukrnafta issue" that surfaced in the Ukrainian media soon after Euromaidan events. Live sharply and do not let anything drive you down! Glory to Ukraine! Song of Kolomoyskiy (Живите четко и не косячьте! Слава Украине! | Песня Коломойского). Vecherniy Kvartal at YouTube. 23.05.2015
Awards and honors
In 2010, Nayyem was awarded the Oleksandr Kryvenko prize "For Progress In Journalism" and in 2014 the Gerd Bucerius Prize for Free Press in Eastern Europe.
Notes
External links
Categories: 1981 Births, Living People, Ukrainian Sunni Muslims, Ukrainian Journalists, 21st-century Ukrainian Journalists, People From Kabul, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Alumni, People Of The Euromaidan, Hromadske.tv People, Tvi People, Eighth Convocation Members Of The Verkhovna Rada, Independent Politicians Of Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Ukrainska Pravda, Ukrainian Anti-corruption Activists, Ukrainian People Of Pashtun Descent, Democratic Alliance Politicians, Afghan Emigrants, Immigrants To The Soviet Union, Free Media Awards Winners
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