Corruption scandal in the Ukrainian energy sector. The government dismissed Enerhootom's supervisory board

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on Tuesday the dismissal of the supervisory board of the joint-stock company of the state operator of nuclear power plants (NAEK), Enerhoatom, in connection with the corruption scandal in the Ukrainian energy sector. She announced that the new composition of the council would be presented within a week.

“Today, the first decisions regarding the restart of NAEK Enerhoatom were made. The government prematurely terminated the powers of the company's supervisory board,” Svyrydenko wrote in the Telegram messenger.

Svyrydenko said that the Ministry of Economy, Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Ukraine is to present the new composition of the supervisory board to the government for approval within a week, in consultation with international partners. According to her, the task of the new board will be to quickly renew the company's management, conduct a full audit and provide all assistance to law enforcement agencies in investigating possible cases of corruption.

The Prime Minister ordered the State Audit Service to conduct an urgent audit of Enerhoatom, including in the field of public procurement. “We are waiting for the audit results as soon as possible. We will provide the materials to law enforcement agencies and anti-corruption services,” she added.

Earlier on Tuesday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced that seven people were suspected in a major corruption scandal in the energy sector and five people were detained. NABU documented how members of a criminal organization transferred money to the former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Those involved in the scandal were to systematically collect bribes from contractors of the state-owned operator of nuclear power plants, Enerhoatom, in the amount of 10%. up to 15 percent contract values. NABU and SAP published some of the audio recordings from the investigation into this matter. They reported that a large anti-corruption operation in the energy sector lasted 15 months and included 1,000 hours of audio recordings.

From Kiev Iryna Hirnyk (PAP)

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