Zelenskyy launches sweeping overhaul of Ukraine's energy management system
Photo: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (president.gov.ua)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on his Telegram channel the launch of a comprehensive cleanup and renewal of Ukraine’s energy sector management system.
According to the head of state, the government has been instructed to submit to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on updating the composition of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NCSREPU) immediately.
It is also planned to update the leadership of the State Nuclear Regulation Inspectorate and the State Energy Supervision Inspectorate.
Additionally, Zelenskyy instructed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to submit a proposal to parliament for the appointment of a new head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy paid separate attention to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). He emphasized the need for a full reboot and the completion of the competition for the position by the end of the year.
Another decision is the audit of assets that belonged to Russian entities and collaborators who fled to the Russian Federation. According to the plan, these objects must be promptly prepared for sale and henceforth operate exclusively in the interests of Ukraine — to strengthen defense and fill the budget.
"All such objects must operate one hundred percent in the interests of Ukraine, to ensure our defense and fill the budget of Ukraine," Zelenskyy writes.
"Mindich tapes" and personnel changes
On November 10, NABU and SAPO exposed a large-scale corruption scheme in the state company Energoatom, related to money laundering and illicit enrichment of Ukrainian officials. The damages are estimated in billions of hryvnias, and the curator of the scheme is said to be a businessman and former partner of Zelenskyy, Timur Mindich.
In connection with the scandal, President Zelenskyy announced personnel changes in the government, which will affect the Ministries of Energy and Justice, whose heads were found to be involved in the schemes.
It is already known that Minister of Justice Herman Halushchenko has resigned, and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk has also submitted her resignation. Zelenskyy removed both ministers from the NSDC.
