Energoatom
Ex-deputy hints at the suggestion that the acting energy minister is acting in the interests of Ukrainian mogul Rinat Akhmetov, who owns massive solar stations.
Former Ukrainian MP and journalist Serhiy Leshchenko says a major scandal is about to break out in the Ukrainian energy sector since Acting Energy Minister Olha Buslavets has proposed to solve all issues that had accumulated in the industry by putting to a halt a number of power units at nuclear power plants.
"To this end, an order was issued to Energoatom SOE to completely shut down three (!) units with a capacity of 3,000 MW and reduce generation by another five units. This is the equivalent of stopping the entire Rivne NPP or half of the Zaporizhia NPP," Leshchenko wrote on Telegram.
"'What for?' you may ask. The shutdown of nuclear units will lead to the fact that there's no need to stop [Rinat] Akhmetov's solar stations operating under a high 'green' tariff. Coal-fed stations – also Akhmetov's – will get an additional market share, too," the journalist said.
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He emphasized such decisions cost the state billions of dollars in loss, while Energoatom, in fact, will go bankrupt.
According to Leshchenko, in order to save Energoatom, lawmakers could pass a special bill that would allocate UAH 10 billion (US$369.7 million) to help Energoatom in the form of domestic debt bonds.
"It's a two-way scheme: Energoatom saves [Rinat Akhmetov's] DTEK, while the state saves Energoatom. Thus, Akhmetov's DTEK gets help from the state, while avoiding the fate of PrivatBank, that is, nationalization," the journalist said.
Leshchenko said the shutdown of two nuclear units was scheduled for May 10.
"After such initiatives, Acting Energy Minister Buslavets almost lost chances of being approved [for ministerial post] in parliament. Moreover, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy, Housing and Utilities Andriy Gerus opposes such a massive nuclear shutdown. The issue of fairness, at what cost Akhmetov is being saved, is also gaining attention among western embassies," Leshchenko said.
"How about that? Stopping nuclear units for the sake of Akhmetov," the former lawmaker wrote.