The head of Ukraine’s power grid operator Ukrenergo announced Tuesday that he had been dismissed from his post, a move criticized by members of the supervisory board who denounced political interference.
The move comes as Ukraine’s power grid has been badly damaged by Russian bombing, causing regular power cuts and raising fears of a difficult winter for Ukrainians.
“The Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo decided to terminate my term as CEO at a special meeting,” the company’s director Volodymyr Kudrytsky, who has been in office since 2020, said on Facebook.
According to a statement by two members of Ukrenergo’s supervisory board, its secretary general Daniel Dobbeni and Peder Andreasen, the decision to dismiss Mr Koudrytsky was taken “by mutual consent”.
In protest, Mr Dobbeni and Mr Andreasen have, however, tendered their resignations, denouncing their dismissal as “premature”, “without reasonable grounds” and “motivated by politics”.
According to Ukrainian media, Mr Kudrytsky was officially dismissed on
the grounds that he failed to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from Russian strikes.
Mr. Kudrytsky denied the reports, saying he had built dozens of shelters at Ukrainian resorts. He denounced a “campaign aimed at discrediting Ukrenergo.”
Ukrenergo did not immediately comment on the change.
His dismissal follows that in June of another official in charge of the electricity network, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukrenergo has received more than 1.5 billion euros in international aid to restore its damaged network, ensure its operation and protect it.
Daniel Dobbeni and Peder Andreasen, however, stated in their press release that they had “felt political pressure from the first days of (their) work”, in particular to “appoint to the board of directors people whose professional qualities were questionable”.
Before the announcement of the dismissal of the Ukrenergo director, Ukraine’s Western allies had expressed concern about such a de
cision.
“Such an event could jeopardise our collective ability to support Ukrenergo and other priority measures for Ukraine’s vital energy security,” the European Union responded on Sunday in a letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Mr Koudrytsky said he hoped his successor would be selected in a “transparent manner”.
“The trust established by Mr. Kudrytsky in relations with the Europeans was perhaps Ukrenergo’s greatest asset,” Sviatoslav Pavliouk, head of the Association of Energy-Efficient Ukrainian Cities, lamented on Facebook.
Source: Burkina Information Agency