State grid boss ousted amid board-government rift
The supervisory board of Ukraine’s state-owned energy grid operator Ukrenergo has fired the company's CEO, Vitaly Zaichenko, and three members of the management board.
Zaichenko confirmed his dismissal in a comment for the Kyiv Independent on Sept. 26.
The firing comes amid a conflict between the government and Ukrenergo's supervisory board, including its foreign members. Zaichenko is seen as close to the government, which has put him at odds with some board members, according to the Kyiv Independent's sources.
The events also follow tensions between the authorities and independent board members at various state companies in recent years and the government's attempts to restrict such members' influence.
A source familiar with the situation told the Kyiv Independent that the supervisory board fired Zaichenko in an effort to curb political interference in the company's management and rein in allegedly corrupt interests. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.
Oleksiy Brekht was appointed as Ukrenergo's acting CEO, Zaichenko said. Another source who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Kyiv Independent that Brekht had allegedly orchestrated Zaichenko's dismissal.
Zaichenko told the Kyiv Independent that the supervisory board's foreign members voted for firing him, and members delegated by the government voted against it.
He said that he believes his dismissal to be illegal because the reasons were not explained to him and because it allegedly leaves Ukrenergo without a management board.
The supervisory board attributed the dismissal of Zaichenko and other management board members to its "loss of confidence in (Zaichenko) due to events that took place over the past few weeks" and to a Sept. 5 decision by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
The commission ruled that there had been procedural violations in the appointment of three Ukrenergo management board members.
"The current changes come after months of corporate conflict that threatened Ukrenergo's operations to fully protect the electricity system and its financial stability," the supervisory board said.
The board added that the government had changed the rules for appointing the company's CEO and "adopted a new corporate governance code containing additional controversial provisions aimed at limiting the powers of the company's supervisory board."
"These changes, adopted without consultation and in violation of international credit agreements, prolonged the technical default and halted the restructuring of green bond debt, as well as giving creditors the right to demand immediate repayment of loans," the board said.
In June, Zaichenko "exacerbated the conflict" by nominating external candidates for the management board on a non-competitive basis in violation of the supervisory board's instructions, according to the supervisory board.
The board also said that "Ukrenergo's independence from political interference is vital to ensuring the safe, professional, and corruption-free management of the company and Ukraine's electricity system."
Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker from the Holos opposition party, wrote on Telegram that, by firing Zaichenko, Ukrenergo's supervisory board "has decided to put the Energy Ministry and the various corrupt officials there in their place." He did not elaborate.
"This is evidence that the struggle for control over Ukrenergo is ongoing, but I hope that the independence of corporate governance will be preserved," Inna Sovsun, another Holos lawmaker, told the Kyiv Independent. And I hope that the government, especially the President's Office, remembers the backlash they received from partners the last time they tried to take control of Ukrenergo by dismissing (Volodymyr) Kudrytskyi."
Kudrytskyi had been seen as independent from the government and had served as head of Ukrenergo since 2020.
He was dismissed in 2024 on the grounds of failing to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid Russian missile strikes, according to a statement from the company’s supervisory board chairman Daniel Dobbeni and board member Peder Andreasen.
Following his dismissal, however, the two said in a statement that the dismissal was "politically motivated" and had "no valid grounds."
"From the first days of our work in the Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo, we felt political pressure and observed constant attempts to bypass the competition to appoint people whose professional qualities were questionable to the company's management board," their statement said, which also announced their resignation in 2024.
