Two board members of Ukraine’s grid operator resign, say chief’s dismissal ‘politically motivated’

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

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

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

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

Ukrenergo provides transmission of electricity from generating companies, such as the nuclear company Energoatom, to regional distributors, who 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 obliged by the government to protect its facilities.

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

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

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

Dobbeni and Andreasen said that during the war, Ukrenergo had attracted more than 1.5 billion euros of international support for restoring the power system, maintaining liquidity and building engineering protections.

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

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