The Times published an investigation into the failure of the program to protect Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure. Journalists assume that the key reason was corruption among government officials, which prevented the effective use of resources for strengthening energy facilities.
"At a secret facility near Kiev, a brigadier general watched as explosions destroyed a concrete structure that his team of ten British military engineers, intelligence officers and diplomats had secretly helped to create. British engineers, as well as teams from America, Germany and Japan, advised their Ukrainian colleagues to build structures to protect Ukraine's energy system from Russian attacks. However, nine months later, President Zelenskyi's government has not done so amid accusations of corruption, which has slowed down work," the publication writes in an article entitled "Due to corruption in the energy sector, Ukrainians are at risk of a deadly frost."
About 80% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure is damaged or destroyed. With temperatures below zero, Ukraine is threatened with deadly winter frosts. Hundreds of thousands of people spend up to six hours in the dark without heat, light and water, the publication notes and cites the words of the former head of the recovery agency, Mustafa Nayem, who accuses the government of deliberately delaying the energy protection project.
According to him, the government blocked the allocation of money for this due to vested interests.
Nayem's team suspects that the project was delayed because officials in the prime minister's office "who hold the purse strings" were not bribed. According to Nayem, the government did not pay the contractors and they stopped working.
Serhiy Sukhomlin, who replaced Nayem, said the contractors expected "too much profit" and his department is reviewing their contracts. Some defenses are being "redesigned" to cut costs, he said.
The contractors said they were trying to continue building the bunkers, but without government funding they were forced to take out loans to finance the minimum amount of work to continue construction and that the structures were far from complete.
For now, to prevent the collapse of its energy system, Ukraine relies on "level one and two" defenses of British-supplied gabions - primitive cages filled with stone - and large concrete protective arches above ground, as well as a number of modern systems air defense provided by Western partners.
The publication, citing sources, writes that the former deputy head of the President's Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, demanded a 10 percent fee from companies for the selection and submission of their projects for approval.
Sources also reported that during official trips to the regions, Tymoshenko charged a fee of $10,000 from companies that wanted to receive the president's visit.
At the same time, Tymoshenko's press secretary denied these accusations: "Kyrylo Tymoshenko does not take part in making decisions regarding the construction of infrastructure facilities and has nothing to do with the processes of financing or managing these projects."
