Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies, after a corruption scandal at the heart of a sector battered by Russian attacks sparked a public outcry.
Anti-graft investigators said around $100 million had been embezzled from the energy sector, causing outrage in a country where Russian attacks have resulted in devastating power outages.
Zelensky ordered two ministers to resign over the corruption scheme and sanctioned a former business partner who was named as its mastermind.
“We are beginning the overhaul of key state-owned enterprises in the energy sector,” Zelensky said on X.
“Alongside a full audit of their financial activities, the management of these companies is to be renewed.”
He called for a new supervisory board at Energoatom – the state nuclear company at the heart of the scandal – “within a week” that would enable a “complete overhaul of the company’s management”.
He also called for the quick appointment of a new head of hydropower generating company Ukrhydroenergo and other reforms for oil and gas giant Naftogaz and the main gas operator.
The reform promises came shortly before Zelensky arrived in Greece on Sunday to sign a deal that would allow Ukraine to import US-supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG) from December 2025 until March 2026.
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Exhausted and outnumbered Ukrainian troops are struggling to fend off Russian forces, and both sides have been attacking each other’s energy infrastructure power stations and oil refineries as the war drags on with no sign of peace talks.
Zelensky has previously said he is committed to fully cooperate with the anti-corruption investigation.
“I have also instructed government officials to maintain constant and meaningful communication with law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies,” he said Saturday.
“The full transparency and integrity in the energy sector remain an absolute priority”.
Read moreUkrainian justice and energy ministers resign over corruption scandal
The scandal prompted some of Ukraine’s European allies to urge Zelensky’s government to do more to battle corruption.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said on Sunday that Zelensky must deal quickly with the allegations of kickbacks and embezzlement, saying the scandal plays into the hands of Russia.
Nonetheless, he urged European leaders to look at boosting financial and military support for Kyiv, which is also facing creeping gains by Russia on the battlefield.
“I’m not very optimistic about achieving a ceasefire or the beginning of peace negotiations, at least this year,” Stubb said, adding it would be good to “get something going” by March.
To bring peace to Ukraine, Stubb said, Trump and European leaders need to maximize pressure on Russia and on Putin in order to change his strategic thinking. Putin “basically wants to deny the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” aims that have not altered since the war began nearly four years ago, Stubb said.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host Zelensky on Monday.
Read moreMacron to host Ukraine’s Zelensky in Paris on November 17
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
