Kudrycki's arrest – an effort to intimidate representatives of the state apparatus in Ukraine

On October 30, following bail, Volodymyr Kudrycki, erstwhile head of Ukrenerho (power grid operator), was released from custody. 2 days earlier, he was detained by officers of the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (DBR), and a day later, the Pecherski territory Court in Kiev applied a temporary detention against him – the anticipation of leaving a deposit of 13.7 million hryvnia was provided. He is incriminated with alleged fraud and misappropriation of funds during tendering for the construction of control station fences in 2018 erstwhile he held the position of Deputy Investment manager in Ukrenerho. The proceeding was attended by the opposition representatives of European Solidarity and Holos and the ruling Servant of the Nation, who supported Kudrycki. After leaving jail, he called the full case "a badly planned and inept political revenge".

Kudrycki worked in Ukrenerho from 2016 and served as president of the Board from 2020 to 2024. He conducted a successful integration of the Ukrainian electricity network into the EU (which coincided with the outbreak of war), and was liable for building safety reinforcements for transmission networks. Among the Western donors, he had the reputation of a high-class honest professional, so the operator of Ukrenerho managed to receive EUR 1.5 billion of grants and loans. most likely for this reason, and besides due to his independence, Kudrycki was in conflict with the then energy minister Herman Hałuszczenko and in the atmosphere of the scandal he was dismissed from his post in September 2024.

The arrest in Ukraine caused outrage not little than what occurred after the July effort to liquidate the independency of anti-corruption authorities by the President's Office (see. Ukraine: Elimination of the independency of anti-corruption services against affront at the top of power). The detention of Kudrycki is consistent with the erstwhile actions of the order bodies aimed at independent institutions and individuals criticizing the camp of Volodymyr Zelenski and the president himself. The demonstrational nature of the arrest for dubious allegations is intended to extort the full loyalty of the authoritative apparatus to power.

Comment

• The detention of Kudrycki was most likely sanctioned by the surroundings of Zelenski. This is indicated by the usage of the DBR-controlled President's Office and the prior arrest of the attack on erstwhile Ukrenerho chief from media-related parties. It's hard to tell what became the direct origin of the detention. It is actual that Kudrycki has been active in fresh weeks and has given respective interviews in which, among others, he criticised the low level of preparations for Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, but these actions are barely a threat to the rulers. possibly he was wanted to be held liable for the problems with electricity supply. However, this will not be easy, as it has not served as president of the Ukrenerho Board for more than a year, and this operator (to a large degree thanks to its actions) seems much better prepared for the heating period than the peripheral shelling companies of electricity distribution, mostly in private hands (see. Before the heating season: Russia hits the weak links of Ukrainian energy).
• Criminal charges against Kudrycki cannot be consideredThat's right. erstwhile head of Ukrenerho signed a contract with a company that won the tender, but failed to meet its commitments despite receiving the advance. However, the operator did not endure losses as the contract was covered by the ConcordBank guarantee, which yet proved to be the only injured party.
• The ostentatious DBR action aims to intimidate the office apparatus. The point is to show that all worker of state companies can be arrested and that his real achievements and reputation are irrelevant if he is considered to be overly independent and insufficiently indecent from the position of the power camp. akin actions have been taken in the past in relation to representatives of the business environment (e.g. the alleged Mazepa case). Ukraine: controversial actions of law enforcement authorities towards business) – they were intended to intimidate officials, especially members of the board of directors and supervisory boards of state-owned enterprises, and to force them to be completely loyal to the President's Office.
• The Kudrycki case will make it hard to recruit professional managers to work in state companies and administrations. Authorities are facing an expanding staff crisis. A good example is the establishment of the fresh government of Julia Swyridenko in July this year (see. Ukraine: fresh government with Julia Swyridenko at the head) in which practically all ministers had previously served as Deputy Ministers or Heads of another ministries.