A meeting of the supervisory board of NEC Ukrenergo, at which a vote is scheduled for the removal of the head of the company’s management board, Volodymyr Kudrytskyy, is scheduled for Monday, a source familiar with the situation said.
‘The meeting of the National Council is scheduled for Monday. Most likely, the withdrawal will take place. Given that the nabsoviet has six members instead of seven: three independents and three representatives of the state, and Roman Pionkowski rather supports the initiator of the withdrawal – the main shareholder represented by the Ministry of Energy’, – said the interlocutor of the agency “Interfax-Ukraine” on Saturday morning.
At the same time, he expressed hope that the public outcry, particularly in the energy community, which the possibility of Kudrytsky’s dismissal has caused, as well as the great support of his Western partners will help stop the process.
‘If it fails, I hope that it will at least be possible to put a professional acting and announce a full-fledged competition for the head of the board,’ the source added.
The company itself has not commented on the issue.
According to TG-channel Monopolist, for the position of the head of Ukrenergo are considered Dmytro Olefir, the head of the Board of Market Operator, who worked in Ukrenergo and was also a member of its Board from the state, Oleg Kozachuk, recently dismissed from the position of Khmelnytskyoblenergo, Oleksandr Gavva, the head of the Board of Market Operator, Artem Nekrasov, the head of the SE ‘Guaranteed Buyer’.
Kudrytskyy has already been publicly supported in his social networks by, among others, MP Andriy Zhupanin (Servant of the People), energy expert of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future Andrian Prokip, managing partner of the consulting company Imepower, which works, among other things, in the market of ‘green’ energy, and a member of the board of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency Yuriy Kubrushko, head of the Bioenergy Association Georgiy Geletukha, as well as a number of other representatives of the energy industry.
As reported, Forbes Ukraine, citing its own sources, reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Headquarters on Friday, 30 August, voiced a demand to Kudrytskyy to write a letter of resignation at his own request in the near future, but he refused. Now the decision on his resignation should be made by the company’s nabsoviet board. The reason for the resignation request is called incomplete protective structures around the system operator’s substations, which allegedly led to disruptions in electricity supplies after the combined massive shelling on 26 August.
The director of the Energy Research Centre, Oleksandr Kharchenko, said in a commentary to the publication that the accusations against Kudrytskyy were groundless, adding that Enerhoatom and Ukrhydroenerho were experiencing similar problems. He also pointed out that if the company’s naibsoviet board decides to dismiss the head of Ukrenerho, ‘the independence of supervisory boards in Ukrainian state-owned companies can be forgotten’.
‘Ukrenergo is a private joint-stock company, 100 per cent of whose shares are managed by the Ukrainian Energy Ministry.
‘Ukrenergo’ recognised the Russian attack on energy facilities on 26 August as the most large-scale attack since the beginning of the war. The Russian occupiers fired 127 missiles and 109 attack drones at Ukrainian territory, of which 102 missiles and 99 UAVs were shot down. As Oleksiy Kucherenko, the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada committee on energy and housing and utilities, commented on the consequences of the attack, Ukraine’s unified energy system has maintained its integrity despite tangible defeats of some energy facilities.
On 23 April 2024, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced a competitive selection for the position of an independent member of the Ukrenergo SB, but it is still operating with one vacancy, although according to Ukrenergo’s charter, it should consist of seven members, including four independent members.
Almost a year ago, Ukrayinska Pravda published the text of a US letter to the Ukrainian authorities with a list of reforms that Kiev should undertake to continue receiving military support, in particular, to introduce additional members to the nabs of Ukrenergo and Naftogaz in the next three months (which was done for NAK).
Currently, Ukrenergo’s SB consists of Peder Andreasen, Daniel Dobbeny, Roman Pionkowski – independent members, Yuriy Tokarsky, Oleksandr Baranyuk, and Yuriy Boyko – representatives of the state. The decision to dismiss the head of the board is made by a majority vote. The market noted that despite the desire of the main shareholder to get Kudrytskyy’s resignation, he managed to avoid it several times, thanks to the support of Ukraine’s international partners, as well as half of the nabsovet (of the state representatives, he is supported by Yuriy Boyko).
In September 2022, the G7 ambassadors to Ukraine had already expressed concern about the government’s interference in the management of the state-owned Gas Transit System Operator of Ukraine LLC and NEC Ukrenergo.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the total amount of international assistance (loans and grants) attracted by Ukrenergo totalled EUR1.5bn.
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