“We observed political pressure and constant attempts to avoid competition in order to appoint individuals with questionable professional credentials to the company’s executive committee,” they wrote. “We were regularly briefed by management during meetings about anonymous sources on social media negatively impacting the company’s reputation and law enforcement agencies exerting pressure on employees.”
Kudritsky was fired late on Monday night after Ukrenergo’s board of directors – made up of three independent directors and three parliamentarians – voted to end his term as head of the country’s power grid, which is under threat as a result of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure.
Kudritsky said in a statement late Tuesday that he had called an emergency meeting of Ukrenergo’s board of directors to contest the decision, arguing that its justification for failing to keep the network safe in the face of Moscow’s drones and missiles was false.
“Recently, a campaign to discredit Ukrenergo has been launched on anonymous Telegram channels and in the mass media,” he said. “I asked press agencies to collect these publications. The result is a thick catalog of almost identical and unfounded messages artificially spread with the aim of tarnishing the company’s image.”
Nevertheless, Ukraine’s power grid faces dire straits. Last week, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko warned Politico that power shortages put Ukraine “on the eve of perhaps the harshest winter in the country’s history.” Ukraine’s allies have donated hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for an energy system that is strained by increased demand for heating and electricity during the colder months.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.