Denys Bezlyudko's article analyzes the current state of the Ukrainian energy industry and economy against the backdrop of personnel changes at Ukrenergo and ongoing shelling. It discusses how the resignation of the company's chairman, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, and the related legal investigation may affect the efficiency of energy management and the restoration of infrastructure in conditions of economic turbulence.
Hard winter. Shelling. Personnel crisis. Where to get money from "Ukrenergo"?
The Ukrainian energy industry, and with it the entire economy of the country, is plunged into yet another turbulence on the eve of the difficult heating season. On the one hand, the intensity of enemy shelling does not decrease, the work to restore the destroyed infrastructure does not decrease. The prospects for passing the winter are alarming. On the other hand, the personnel decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on the resignation of the head of Ukrenerego not only caused a number of conflicting opinions among both experts and market participants, but also called into question the effectiveness of crisis management not only in an individual company, but in the country as a whole .
During at least the last year, numerous media, commentators, law enforcement agencies, officials and – in a more shadowy format – various corruption agents performed one destructive politico-technological task: all problems, which in one way or another were related to the activities of the state operator of electric grids "Ukrenergo", were to be transformed into an infospace due to the personal fault of Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the ex-head of the company.
There are many reasons for this, the vast majority of "initiated" observers agree on the financial issue. To put it very simply, they say, "Kudrytskyi did not allow money to be stolen and schemes to be implemented." And allegedly, this is precisely why numerous "illegal apartments", "audit results", "abuse of bulletproof vests", "criminal cases of embezzlement" and "lifestyle investigations" and other white noise appeared in the info field. The operation for the uninitiated viewer has been going on for the last few weeks, for the more in-depth - the last few years. And whoever ordered the resignation, it is now obvious that he won his party.
But here's what the problem is: the issue of managing the electricity distribution network, the issue of effective protection of energy facilities, attracting financing from external partners and returning problematic debts - all this will have to be dealt with by the new company manager. It will be especially interesting to observe what will happen with criminal processes where the target was Kudrytsky personally, or the information campaign against him. After all, now that the goal has been achieved, it is simply not appropriate to spend resources on it.
However, there is one case, the further course of which will be indicative from the point of view of the real desire of behind-the-scenes puppeteers to change the situation in the energy market - or simply to sit on the stream, displacing an effective manager. And this is a case of embezzlement of UAH 716 million. funds of "Ukrenergo" with the participation of the bank "Alliance" and the company "United Energy" of Igor Kolomoiskyi.
Let's briefly recall the plot. In the fall of 2021, Alliance Bank issued a guarantee to United Energy so that it could go to Ukrenergo and buy electricity. The company seized the opportunity in March 2022, in the midst of the beginning of a full-scale invasion. However, I did not pay for the product. And when "Ukrenergo" turned to the "guarantor" - the "Alliance" bank - he decided that he would not pay under this document. The result is a criminal case of NABU regarding the embezzlement of funds plus an economic process for the return of UAH 1.2 billion (this is the amount of the guarantee with penalty and late payment). In March 2024, NABU referred the case to court, and in the economic process, the story got stuck in court proceedings. Some of the bloggers-political scientists whitewash the bank "Alliance" while simultaneously "baiting" Kudrytskyi and "Ukrenergo", some - on the contrary, support the point of view that you have to pay for the guarantees. By the way, the Supreme Court is of the same opinion.
And here is the situation: Kudrytskyi (“universal evil”) is no longer the head of Ukrenergo. What do you say - should the state company continue to demand the return of funds due to it? For an effective manager, the answer is obvious. Especially considering the completely justified and realistic expectations of a "difficult winter", "difficult heating season", "serious destruction" of the energy system, in particular, the part under the control of "Ukrenergo". In the conditions of a total shortage of funds, the constant need for repairs - every penny must go to work. And therefore UAH 1.2 billion. from the "Alliance" bank will not be superfluous at all.
More than that. Let us recall that the public motivation for Kudrytskyi's resignation is the inability to organize effective protection of energy facilities. Therefore, the logic of choosing a new leader - as well as his action plan - should be based on the reverse: he should be able to organize such protection. Including - accumulating funding for it. Will the new head of the company receive carte blanche, for example, regarding legal disputes with debtors? Will the judicial machine be ready to make "state" decisions? Or, on the contrary, the matter of the debts of the "Alliance" will be written off in a long chest, and the 1.2 billion hryvnias, which could be agreed upon for the construction of more than one shelter or the repair of more than one substation, will simply be forgotten?
It is also especially interesting what arguments the "Alliance" bank itself will use in the shadowy information struggle now - when the main "enemy" has allegedly been overthrown, and it is still necessary to settle debts.
The further development of the story, which looks like a boring and very narrow-profile corporate conflict, will actually show what real intentions the initiators of Kudrytskyi's resignation had and how ready all branches of state power in the country are to defend state interests. In addition, it will also be a signal to government bodies in other sectors, state-owned enterprises and their counterparty debtors - and now also to international partners - as to whether the talks about improving the management of internal resources are really improving, in Ukraine they are trying to save every penny of taxpayers (at least their own, at least Western ones).
Or it will demonstrate that here you can still steal impiously even in the midst of war.
