Two board members of Ukraine’s network operator resign, say boss’ sacking is ‘politically motivated’ By Reuters

(Reuters) – Two independent members of the supervisory board of Ukraine’s national electricity grid operator resigned on Tuesday, saying they believed the decision to fire the operator’s chief was “politically motivated.”

On September 2, the majority of Ukrenergo’s supervisory board members decided to terminate Volodymyr Kudrytskyi’s powers early after he submitted a report on ensuring the protection of the grid’s facilities during Russian attacks.

“Today, on September 3, we submitted our written notices regarding the early termination of duties as members of the Company’s Supervisory Board,” board chairman Daniel Dobbeni and board member Peder Andreasen said in a statement.

“We strongly believe that the decision on the early dismissal of the Ukrenergo CEO is politically motivated, and based on the results of the presented report, there are no valid grounds for it,” they added.

Ukrenergo transports electricity from generating companies, such as the nuclear company Energoatom, to regional distributors, which in turn supply electricity directly to consumers.

The Ukrainian energy system has been significantly affected by massive Russian missile and drone attacks, which have increased dramatically since this spring, and Ukrenergo has been forced by the government to protect its facilities.

“The Supervisory Board’s decision to fire me has nothing to do with the security of Ukrenergo’s substations,” Kudrytskyi said.

“I can’t go into details, but more than 60 anti-drone shelters have been built at Ukrenergo substations, almost at every substation,” he added.

He said that anonymous Telegram channels and some media outlets launched a campaign to discredit Ukrenergo.

Dobbeni and Andreasen said that during the war, Ukrenergo attracted more than 1.5 billion euros in international support to restore the energy system, maintain liquidity and build engineering protections.

“Ukrenergo successfully fulfilled its core strategic objectives despite the Russian invasion,” they said, adding that the pace of recovery after the unprecedented missile attacks allowed the company to fully fulfill its function.

But Dobbeni and Andreasen said the decision to fire Kudrytskyi may affect Ukrenergo’s cooperation with European companies.