Yevgeny Zukin, Vice President and Executive Director of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, said the following regarding the conflict with the Ukrainian tennis players before the match between the Ukraine national team and the Hungarian national team at the Davis Cup:

– Last year there was a conflict between FTU and the players and as a result we were not able to assemble the main squad for the match against Hungary. The players said that the federation did not fulfill the conditions they put forward and that these conditions were not too big to be met. How do you interpret the events between the Federation and the players?

– Probably this could be called a conflict, you can do it any other way. This goes for both teams. I think any activity is a business. Our business is not profitable, it is planned unprofitable. The federation does not receive any dividends and profits, everything is reinvested in the development of tennis. All the material obligations that the federation has undertaken towards the players, everything has been fulfilled. If someone says otherwise, they’re just lying. Stories that we stole some kind of aid … We should look into the matter. There is not a single piece of evidence. All “OBS” – “said a woman.” People drew numbers on their heads deciding they had to pay for it. They were told “No, just such numbers”. “No, you owe us.” He shouldn’t. We couldn’t agree on this.

– Was everything just a matter of finances?

– Exactly. No more conflict. I’ve talked about our advantages, but I can honestly say what our disadvantage is: unfortunately we haven’t been able to get along with the players all this time. We have a federation and players. And they never hesitated to mention in all the interviews that we were fighting for wages with the federation. Although the players are part of the federation.

– But don’t you think it’s the federation’s fault?

– There is, and that’s what I’m talking about – it’s something we can only put ourselves under an obligation to. This is probably our fault too. Everything has always been about money. We forgot the word “patriotism” a long time ago. Only the war somehow aroused emotions and allowed me to think that this word could return, but still, it was my fault.

– Did the players really play the free game against Barbados at the beginning of March?

Yes, we played for free.

– How do you interpret the words of the players that it was said that the money allocated for the match will be spent on the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

– These are fantasy. I never said it. Can someone tell me when I said this? Never. The same goes for the match against the USA. The girls playing there didn’t get anything. Lyuda Kichenok wrote in her post that the money went to Ukrainian tennis. March. The war is beginning. We have an organization that is uncertain whether it will exist a month later. We need to set aside some funds for at least a few months, pay salaries, provide minimal assistance to the hundreds of tennis players who have to travel abroad. My phone sat for 3 hours, I charged it again.

Transfer money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine – then there were no such words. Then came the manipulation. At the Davis Cup in March, the question was simple. So much nonsense came out of the ITF that no one cared.

– Dialogue with players for whom no agreement has been reached at this time has ended, or are you still looking for ways to reach consensus?

“They stopped talking to me. I moved away from negotiating with the players.

Does Mikhail Filima do this? First of all, Mikhail Filima works as a head coach at the Ministry, he is automatically responsible for this. As captain of the Billie Jean King Cup team, she is responsible for inviting the girls. Elena Andreeva handled the negotiations on the Lebanon match, held negotiations with both Sachko and Krutykh. Their material demands do not suit us.