In the West, there are fears that a “political takeover” of power is taking place in Ukraine’s energy sector.
Politico writes about this in a large analytical article.
The reason for this was the dismissal of Vladimir Kudritsky from the post of head of Ukrenergo. Kudritsky himself states that “the presidential administration wants to put the energy system under its control”
The official reason for his dismissal, leaked anonymously to Ukrainian media, was that Kudritsky had failed to protect Ukraine’s power grid from a hail of Russian airstrikes.
International observers almost immediately rejected that explanation, since Kudritsky is generally respected for his repeated attempts to restore power after waves of Russian attacks. Diplomats and global creditors even issued a rare public rebuke over his dismissal, calling on Kyiv to reverse course. The G7 then gave weight to the report.
They worry that Kyiv is not just changing personnel, but is slowly eroding the principle of separation of powers, which is vital to the functioning of democracy. Experts fear that the big danger is that lucrative contracts and projects could be handed out based on political loyalty.
This has long been a concern for the international community, especially given that Ukraine wants to join the EU and began membership talks in June.
In an interview with POLITICO, Kudritsky, the man at the center of the controversy, lamented that such concerns were well-founded.
It’s all about centralization of power, he said. The presidential administration wants to put Ukraine’s energy system under its direct control, Kudritsky warned – such an arrangement, in his opinion, will lead to death. did not survive the hardest winters that any energy system operator has ever experienced.
A senior official in Zelensky’s administration denied the president’s involvement in Kudrytsky’s dismissal.
It is simply not the job of the President’s Office to change company leaders, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation.
The official added:
The main need in the energy sector as a whole is to protect it from missiles and drones.
Independent Ukrainian energy experts say Kudritsky’s removal is not a one-off.
The last few years [ми бачили]”How they fired energy executives, including the head of our nuclear power generating company, who was highly professional,” said Mikhail Gonchar, an energy specialist at the Kyiv Center for Global Studies. “And we saw the same thing happening with gas companies.
Critical supply companies should be run independently of politicians, he said.
It is dangerous when politicians interfere in these areas because you need genuine knowledge and expertise about what you are doing, and this leads to a loss of trust from our most important international partners and risks undermining the highly professional management system of Ukrenergo.
Zelensky’s political opponents are expected to agree with this.
They just came up with a reason to get rid of Kudrytsky, but frankly, there was no compelling reason to push him out because he was doing a very good job,” opposition MP and Zelensky critic Mykola Knyazhytsky told POLITICO.
Days before Kudrytsky was fired — and Ukrainian newspapers and Telegram channels predicted his imminent departure — Western donors issued a rare warning to Kyiv. In a letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the EU ambassador to Ukraine and representatives of international financial institutions expressed alarm and warned against undermining Ukrenergo’s independence.
They warned against changing the company’s governance structure and called for a new supervisory board, saying that doing otherwise “could jeopardize our collective ability to support Ukrenergo and other vital energy security priorities for Ukraine.” The G7 ambassadors then posted a message on Twitter.
The group called for a suspension of all management decisions until a new board is formed and professional staff are consulted.
In the current extremely difficult situation, when the continuity of Ukrenergo’s operations is extremely important for Ukraine’s security and preparation for winter, any changes in the company’s top management must be carefully weighed and well prepared, they stressed.
The letter was signed, in particular, by the EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova and the Director for Ukraine and Moldova at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Arvid Türkner.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.