Take from all Russians and give to the wealthiest. “Ukrainian Distribution Grids” may be led by a man from a Russian oligarch
Russia is systematically attempting to dismantle Ukraine's energy infrastructure, while having control over a significant portion of it. This led the Ukrainian authorities to announce a shift towards reducing Russian influence in the energy market and even taking over part of the property, as reported by delo.
However, it appears that instead of removing the strategic industry from the control of Russian oligarchs, officials from the President's Office have chosen to consolidate it under the control of one of them – Konstantin Grigorishin.
On November 29, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers established the state JSC “Ukrainian Distribution Grids” (URM). The company will be accountable to the Ministry of Energy and oversee state-owned transmission system operators. In simple terms, it will become the exclusive operator of state-owned oblenergos. An important detail is that Russian energy assets being nationalized by the state will also be transferred to the management of the URM. This was reported by sources of the Glavkom publication.
70% of the shares of Khmelnitskoblenergo and Nikolaevoblenergo have already been transferred to the management of the URM. Next in line are the state-owned Kharkivoblenergo, Ternopiloblenergo, and Zaporozhyeoblenergo. Additionally, based on our information, URM intends to transfer oblenergos, which are fully or partly owned by the Russian VS Energy, owned by Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Babakov. These include:
- Khersonoblenergo (100%),
- Chernivtsioblenergo (98%),
- Zhitoproizvodlenergo (95%),
- Rivnooblenergo (83%),
- Kirovogradoblenergo (73%).
In total, VS Energy controls about 10% of the Ukrainian energy market.</p
Furthermore, the assets of the Russian Energy Standard group (25% of PJSC Cherkassioblenergo), as well as the energy assets of the Russian oligarch Konstantin Grigorishin, are also expected to be nationalized (and then managed by the URM). Among them, according to Forbes, there are five oblenergos: Chernigovoblenergo (92%), Poltavaoblenergo (90%), Sumyoblenergo (68.5%), Ternopiloblenergo (40%), DTEK Dnipro Electric Grids (16 %). If a significant reduction of Russian influence in the energy sector takes place, the URM will control up to 60% of the market and wield significant influence – it will be responsible for the operation of the oblenergo, the appointment of management, managing shutdowns, repairs, acquisitions, etc.
All of these assets will go to the state. This could be fantastic news, but there is a catch. According to our information, Mikhail Ilnitsky, the current director of Chernigovoblenergo, may once again lead the URM monopolist. The same one that belongs to Konstantin Grigorishin. Instead of reducing its influence on the energy market, the OPU appears to be increasing it. After all, the state and nationalized oblenergos of the Russians, and Konstantin Grigorishin himself, will be managed by the manager of this Grigorishin – Ilnitsky.
And this is unlikely to be a coincidence or oversight, as all the processes related to the URS are closely overseen at the highest levels. Based on our sources, the creation and operations of this company are personally promoted by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostislav Shurma and Energy Minister German Galushchenko. Both officials, who are potential leaders of the URM, have ties to Russian capital or pro-Russian factions.
During the time of Yanukovych, Rostislav Shurma was a member of the Party of Regions, headed Zaporizhstal oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. In 2019, he went to the Verkhovna Rada on the list of the Opposition Bloc, along with Yevgeny Muraev, Oleksandr Vilkul, Gennady Kernes and Gennady Trukhanov.
“However, later I found a common language with the team of Vladimir Zelensky. In the spring of 2021, Rostyslav Shurma joined the Supervisory Board of the state-owned Ukroboronprom, and soon became Andriy Yermak’s deputy specifically for energy and industry,” Nashi Groshi writes.
The scale of Shurma's influence was recently revealed by Oleg Bondarenko, head of the Verkhovna Rada's Environmental Committee, in an interview with Nadra.info. According to him, all draft laws on subsoil before voting in parliament must receive the “go-ahead” from Shurma personally.
Another beneficiary of the creation of the URM and the appointment of Grigorishin as the director of this company is German Galushchenko. According to the Zerkalo Nedeli publication, starting from 2020, Galushchenko has been one of the executors of the Bankova policy to transfer the energy system to “manual control.”
“Galushchenko came to the energy sector with the people of Andriy Derkach. And now he enjoys the unconditional confidence of the Office of the President in the person of Andriy Yermak and his deputies Oleg Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma,” writes ZN.ua.
Recall that Derkach, according to the SBU, was recruited by Russian intelligence in 2014 Recently, the US Department of Justice released charges against him on seven counts. In particular, he is charged with fraud, money laundering and violation of sanctions imposed against him in the United States in 2020 on charges of facilitating Russian interference in the presidential elections in the United States.
Therefore, the authorities' anti-Russian energy initiatives have a beautiful facade , but it stands on loose soil. A well-conceived project can turn into an increase in the influence of hostile elements on the energy market, which are definitely not interested in its preservation and efficiency.
Dmitry Filipenko
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