The Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo dismissed the Chairman of the Board, Vitaliy Zaichenko. The official reason was procedural violations during his previous appointments and loss of trust due to “certain events of recent weeks.” The decision signaled that systemic problems have accumulated in the state-owned energy sector, and officials do not always comply with the law.
However, the real problem is deeper. In 2023, the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development concluded a series of contracts for the construction of protective structures for Ukrenergo transformer substations outside Prozorro, without a feasibility study and estimates. The same group of contractors was involved in the work: ONUR, Avtomagistral-Pivden, RDS, Slavdorstroy, and several other companies.
The financial indicators are impressive. According to the contracts, one facility cost from 200 to over 500 million UAH, while similar facilities were built by Ukrenergo for 69–89 million UAH. In total, 46 facilities under this scheme cost the state 19.3 billion UAH. For comparison, 80 similar facilities built without manipulations cost only 7.2 billion UAH.
The worst part is that the contractors are connected to each other and to agency officials, have common beneficiaries, and always win closed tenders. No real investigations are currently being conducted, and the scheme continues to be covered up by high-ranking officials.
The situation indicates a systemic problem in the energy sector of Ukraine, where instead of transparent procedures, public funds are spent non-transparently, and responsible officials remain unpunished. An urgent review of all contracts and bringing those responsible to justice is needed.
