Ukrainian govt clears state's candidates for Ukrenergo supervisory board

MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has cleared the candidacies of Yury Boiko, Anatoly Gulei, and Alexei Nikitin as the state's representatives on the supervisory board of the national power grid operator Ukrenergo, Ukrainian media reported citing a government directive dated December 10, 2024 published on the government's website.

The Energy Ministry, an Ukrenergo shareholder, now has to appoint these candidates to the posts on the supervisory board.

Boiko, who was Ukrainian energy minister in 2020-2021, is currently a member of Ukrenergo's supervisory board and an advisor to the prime minister.

Nikitin earlier worked as director of Ukrenergo's market development division and later as director of the commerce department at Ukrhydroenergo.

Gulei earlier was board chairman at Oshchadbank and Active-Bank and deputy board chairman at Alfa Bank. He is a shareholder of Accordbank.

It was reported earlier that the Ukrainian government cleared Patrick Graichen, Luigi de Francisci, Jeppe Kofod, Jan Montell as independent members of Ukrenergo's supervisory board on November 26, 2024.

Graichen was state secretary at the German Federal Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Ministry in 2021-2023. De Francisci, a former top manager at Terna and Enel, previously served on Ukrenergo's supervisory board. Kofod is a former Danish foreign minister. Montell has worked as a top manager and board member at a number of Finnish companies.

In October 2024, Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski said in a letter to Yury Vlasenko, head of the Ukrainian National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities, that the absence of a supervisory council at Ukrenergo put at risk its certification as an independent transmission system operator, which serves as a basis for synchronizing the Ukrainian and European power grids.

Lorkowski suggested that Ukrenergo's supervisory board had to be put together by December 9, when the mandate of its only independent member was to expire, after the resignation of Daniel Dobbeni and Peder Andreasen over what they described as politically motivated the dismissal of Ukrenergo's head Vladimir Kudritsky.

On December 4, Alexei Orzhel, head of Energy Community's Kiev office and former Ukrainian energy minister, told Ukrainian media that the secretariat expected Ukrenergo's supervisory board to be confirmed by December 9, after which it would analyze whether there were any problems obstructing its certification as an independent transmission system operator.

Ukrenergo suspended payments on $825 million of its green and sustainability-linked bonds issued in 2021 on November 9, 2024. The bond restructuring also depends on the establishment of a supervisory board.