On 3 September, Daniel Dobbeni, chairman of the Supervisory Board of NEC Ukrenergo, and Peder Andreasen, a member of the Board, submitted written notices of early termination of their powers. They did so because they consider the decision to dismiss the CEO of Ukrenergo to be politically motivated.
Ukrenergo's website confirmed the dismissal of its chairman, Volodymyr Kudrytskyy. The decision to terminate his powers early was made by agreement of the parties, and the extraordinary meeting was initiated by Kudrytskyy himself.
He reported on the protection of high-voltage network facilities during the Russian attacks and the situation around the company in the public domain. Dobbeni and Andreasen believe that, based on the report, there are no reasonable grounds for dismissal.
"From the very first days of our work on the Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo, we felt political pressure and observed constant attempts to circumvent the competition and appoint people whose professional qualities were questionable. We regularly received reports from the Company's management during meetings about the negative impact on the Company's reputation of anonymous sources in social media and pressure on employees from law enforcement agencies," the statement said.
The authors of the statement believe that the Company's corporate governance in accordance with OECD standards has been called into question, so they will not continue their work in the Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo.
"Violation of the principles of corporate governance and the decision to dismiss its CEO without proof of improper management is unacceptable and may affect Ukrenergo's further cooperation with ENTSO-E member operators," the statement said.
Ukrenergo's Supervisory Board consisted of six members: Chairman Daniel Dobbeni, members Peder Andreasen, Roman Pionkowski, Yuriy Boyko, Yuriy Tokarskyy and Oleksandr Baranyuk. Andreasen, according to the company's website, ‘has significant professional experience in all aspects of business in the electricity and gas sector, understanding of the nuances of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, which is important in the context of Ukraine's accession to ENTSO-E. He has a good understanding of all the peculiarities of the work of European institutions, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Energy Community.’
Dobbeni has chaired the Supervisory Board since August 2023. He ‘has over 40 years of experience in the energy sector. In 2008, he became the first president of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). He was President of the German TSO 50Hertz GmbH and Vice President of the GO15 Association. From 2003 to 2012, he was CEO of Elia Group, a Belgian-German transmission system operator. Throughout his career, Daniel Dobbeni has been actively involved in committees of the Electric Power Research Institute, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, UCTE and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.’