Hans-Petter Hollen
Managing Director of RIPE NCC
Ref. № 160
d/d November 19, 2021
Dear Hans-Petter Hollen!
The Ukrainian Internet Association is the largest Internet-association in Ukraine: It unites more than 230 members, 70% of which are telecom operators, many of them have LIR (Local Internet Registry) status.
For 20 years, the Association has been implementing projects aimed at developing the Ukrainian segment of the global Internet and protecting the interests of its members.
Let us express our sincere gratitude for RIPE NCC's efforts to maintain the stability of the Internet in our region and to coordinate and develop the interactions within the Internet community. We would like to note that the Ukrainian segment of the Internet does not stand apart from these activities. We want to mention the success of RIPE NCC Days in Kyiv in 2019, training programs in different regions of Ukraine, organizational and material support of the Ukrainian Internet Governance Forum.
However, we have to note that the active work of RIPE NCC with the Ukrainian Internet community started relatively recently, in 2017: RIPE NCC representatives began to come to local telecom conferences, hackathons, and workshops, permanent contacts were established, interaction channels were adjusted. In particular, very fruitful was the work with Oleksiy Semenyaka, RIPE NCC Technical Advisor.
As you know, due to political circumstances, he had to move from Russia to Ukraine. You, as RIPE NCC Managing Director, informed us that the cooperation between the RIPE NCC and Oleksiy was being suspended. We had hoped that the misunderstanding would be quickly resolved, and Oleksiy would be able to get back to work. At the moment, we have to state that this has never happened. Oleksiy keeps replying that he cannot fully answer any questions about RIPE NCC procedures and rules because the organization is not permitted him to do so. The ripe.net website, however, lists him as a RIPE NCC employee.
We understand that politics interferes in our lives even when we don't want it to. In particular, for some unknown political reasons, Oleksiy was forced to leave Russia. However, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Russian Federation officially has the status of an aggressor country in Ukraine. In other words, it seems right that those responsible for community engagement on behalf of the RIPE NCC should initially be appointed with a political context to avoid further political influence on their work. In particular, it is unacceptable for Ukraine if a citizen of an aggressor country performs the role of RIPE NCC Technical Advisor in our country. In this regard, we would really appreciate if you consider adding the duties of a Technical Advisor to Oleksiy's functions, to restore those interactions with the RIPE NCC that have been established over the past years. We are sure that this will benefit both the Ukrainian Internet community and the RIPE NCC.
Looking forward to the future fruitful cooperation and successful working relationship!
Respectfully,
Chairman of the Board of Ukrainian Internet Association Savchuk Oleksandr