New Year’s gift: the government elected “independent” members of the Supervisory Board of Energoatom

Svyrydenko showed the new “supervisors” of Energoatom / photo collage t.me/svyrydenkoyThe Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine elected four independent members of the Supervisory Board of Energoatom, which became a reaction to the scandal involving large-scale embezzlement in the energy sector.

As the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliya Svyridenko reported, the selection of three more members of the supervisory board from the state will be completed in early January.

“The selection was carried out unanimously. The committee includes representatives of the Government and independent observers – the EU, the EBRD, the IFC and the business ombudsman,” the Prime Minister clarified.

Thus, according to Svyridenko, independent members of the supervisory board will be:

Rumina Velshi – international expert on nuclear safety and regulatory oversight. According to the premier, she has been working in the industry for more than 40 years. She headed the Canadian nuclear regulator, the IAEA Safety Standards Commission and the Association of International Nuclear Regulators.

Laura Harbenchute-Bakiene – specialist in finance, audit and risk management in energy and infrastructure. Has more than 25 years of experience. She held senior positions at PwC (USA, Ukraine, Lithuania), working with audits and risks at strategic energy facilities, in particular the Ignalina NPP in Lithuania.

Patrick Fragman – engineer and international manager in the nuclear and energy industry. Former President and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company. Has more than 30 years of experience.

Brice Bouillon – lawyer in energy regulation and corporate management. He held senior positions at EDF International and EDF Energy, responsible for legal, compliance and regulatory functions, worked for the French Council of State and the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Svyridenko added that the renewal of the supervisory boards of the companies “Naftogaz”, “Ukrhydroenergo”, “Ukrenergo”, “HTS Operator”, “Centrenergo” and others is underway in parallel. In total, 12 energy organizations are planning to upgrade.

In addition, she reminded that audits of defense enterprises, which will be handed over to law enforcement agencies, are ongoing.

Corruption in energy – what is knownOn November 10, NABU and SAP conducted an operation called “Midas” to expose a criminal organization operating in the energy sector. Through the scheme, influence was exerted on strategic state enterprises, in particular “Energoatom”. Then the detectives came to search Energoatom and the now former Minister of Justice Galushchenko.

It was reported that the scheme was called “Barrier”. According to it, the criminal organization systematically received illegal benefits from the contractors of “Energoatom” in the amount of 10% to 15% of the value of the contracts.

As part of the case, records about energy corruption were also made public. On them, people are marked with nicknames: “Carlson” – businessman Timur Mindich, “Professor” – ex-Minister of Justice Herman Galushchenko, “Tenor” – executive director of physical protection and security of JSC NAEK “Energoatom” Dmytro Basov.

At the beginning of December, the Kyiv prosecutor’s office detained the former acting first vice president of Energoatom SE, who previously held the position of the first deputy minister of energy of Ukraine. The former official was suspected of taking over someone else’s property by abusing his official position.

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