Ukrainian journalist and political-economic analyst Alexey Kusch has dissected the "compensation" of 17 million UAH for the dismissed head of the "Ukrenergo" company, Vladimir Kudritsky.
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SubscribeThis became known thanks to a new publication on Alexey Kusch's Telegram channel "Kusch Analytics".
Here’s how Alexey Kusch reacts to Kudritsky's 17 million "income":
In the report from "Ukrenergo," it was noted: "The actual salary received by the Chairman of the Board of NEC 'Ukrenergo' Kudritsky V.D. amounted to 17,271,429.51 UAH (this amount includes: compensation for unused vacation days 2,204,326.90 UAH, severance pay upon dismissal 3,867,973.64 UAH, and repayment of the company's outstanding bonuses for 2021-2023 totaling 11,137,014 UAH)".
Interestingly, the tactic is as follows: during your employment, you are credited with a bonus but not paid.
One might ask, why?
As a theory: to avoid criticism regarding exorbitant bonuses during wartime, which could lead to dismissal. Only an audit can uncover the accrued bonuses, but who will sift through large PDF files?
However, in the payment statements, everything looks good, or rather "modest." It is only after dismissal that this golden parachute fully unfolds, but by then, it’s too late, and all criticism goes to... (well, you get the idea).
Moreover, these payments are made to a state company official during wartime, who was dismissed "not at his own request." Under his leadership, the state company he managed "got into" a situation involving the loss of hundreds of millions of UAH in a guarantee deposit from a well-known energy trader, allegedly due to an "error by a scapegoat."
Additionally, one should recall the construction of protective structures over the energy infrastructure of "Ukrenergo," which practically only protects against drones and debris. As for protection against missiles—suddenly, during shelling, it turned out that "this is impossible."
Or the story of purchasing bulletproof vests in the spring of 2022, when "Ukrenergo" allegedly bought them at a significantly higher price than the damage incurred, amounting to millions of UAH.
Despite all the financial difficulties in the country, the dismissed official of the state company receives 17 million UAH "credited to his card" in an instant. In fact, the salaries of the leaders of state companies somewhat devalue the salaries of military personnel.
Because the principle "you have to pay for everything, and pay a lot for good managers" is no longer valid. This statement still has some chance of existence in peacetime: indeed, everyone does what they want and earns according to market capitalization.
Of course, sometimes there are "market fiascos," like with Kobolev's salary and bonuses, but those are just details. However, during wartime, this principle certainly has no grounds: how can one assess in monetary terms the risk to life on the front lines?
Why should a person in a trench earn less than a person in an office? If society is mobilizing, some risk their lives while others should not receive millions in bonuses typical of peacetime governmental positions.
Someone sacrifices something during the war, and let’s agree that the sacrifice of the "people in offices" in the form of unearned millions would not be the biggest in a country where some lose their lives, others their homes, and others their usual way of life.
Why not view work in governmental positions during wartime as a form of "civil mobilization"? With a reasonable, yet not exorbitant salary? Why do only "people in offices" want to live as if it were peacetime?
In this case, the 17 million UAH paid to Kudritsky can be examined in the context of legal cases involving "Ukrenergo," the "Alliance" bank, and the energy trader "United Energy" regarding the lost "Ukrenergo" electricity in 2022 amounting to over 0.7 billion UAH.
The electricity was obtained by "United Energy" from the state company without proper monetary coverage; in particular, the trader took the guarantee deposit that was supposed to ensure such coverage.
Therefore, the participants in the scheme were very reluctant to take responsibility for this, leading to significant efforts to place all blame on the guarantee bank.
However, things did not go exactly as planned. The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) ordered the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) to initiate a new investigation into this case and establish the role of "Ukrenergo" in it. Meanwhile, the "Alliance" bank is successfully defending its rights in court and has begun to receive favorable judicial decisions, in which phrases like "dishonesty aimed at obtaining a guarantee payment" have been directly stated.