According to him, the main problem of the industry remains debts that accumulate within the public energy sector and create risks of financial collapse. Financial irresponsibility of state-owned companies shifts risks to the budget, he said.
“The problems in the industry are insane debts. Well, this is the key problem, right? Insane debts that are formed by the imbalance of tariffs, the imbalance of various special responsibilities, and so on, and so on. Since all these debts are generated in the public energy sector, sooner or later the public sector will get them on its head. Well, it will collapse, right? And where will it collapse? It will collapse into the state budget. Where is the other source? There is no other source,” Kharchenko emphasized.
He warned that the process could intensify in the near future.
“Naftogaz has already reached the state budget, but this is the first signal. Then Ukrenergo will come and say: “That’s it, there is no money.” What will the state budget do? We will have to look for a way to support Ukrenergo as well,” the expert explained.
He added that other state-owned energy companies may face similar financial risks.
According to him, the International Monetary Fund and European partners are concerned about the debt situation in the energy sector.
“They don’t have money, they will come to us. Europeans are thinking the same thing now. The European Commission understands where the Ukrainians will come when they run out of money,” Kharchenko said.
In his opinion, the way out of the situation should be a gradual transition from political management of the industry to technocratic approaches.
“That’s why they are afraid of this, they are rightly afraid, I support them, I would be afraid too. And they want the process of moving away from the political principles of energy management to at least a little technocratic to begin in advance,” the expert noted.
Video: Andriy Zhupanin / YouTube
