On the eve of Independence Day, Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Public Utilities, Oleksiy Kucherenko, issued a public statement demanding that the government take direct responsibility for the work of strategic state energy companies. In his words, ahead of the heating season, which the authorities describe as one of the most difficult, the state, as a shareholder, must more actively fulfill its functions and stop evading responsibility. The statement was made on Sunday, August 24, and was published by the deputy on Facebook.
A Call on Independence Day
In his statement, Kucherenko directly pointed to the need for personnel decisions at the top of the energy sector. "Perhaps it is time for the state, as a shareholder, to start managing its state companies, and for the government to take responsibility on itself," the deputy wrote. He emphasized that "the pillars of the country's energy security cannot be left without leaders in such a period," and called on the Prime Minister and the cabinet of ministers to personally bear responsibility for successfully getting through the upcoming heating season.
Which Companies Lack Full-Fledged Leaders
Among the enterprises that, according to the deputy, are still headed only by acting officials, he named the largest electricity producer, Energoatom; the company Naftogaz, responsible for supplying gas to households; the main state heat-generation company, Tsentrenergo; as well as the state oblenergo companies in five regions, three of which are frontline regions. Kucherenko separately mentioned the state oil refinery Ukrtatnafta. Thus, in his assessment, virtually all key links in the country's energy vertical remain without full-fledged leaders.
Criticism of Shifting Responsibility to Supervisory Boards
The deputy placed a separate emphasis on the practice of citing supervisory boards when explaining management problems. Kucherenko stated that the state must stop transferring responsibility to these bodies "when it is necessary to conceal its own indecision." In his logic, it is precisely the government and the Prime Minister who should bear personal responsibility for the results of the work of subordinate strategic companies, rather than shifting it to collegial management bodies.
Political Context: Who Bears Responsibility
The statement came against the backdrop of reshuffles in the energy portfolio. It was previously reported that former Prime Minister Yulia Svyridenko is being considered as a candidate for the head of Naftogaz. Meanwhile, according to open sources, in July 2026 the Verkhovna Rada appointed Yuri Koretsky as the new Prime Minister, and back in January 2026 the parliament failed to pass a vote on appointing Shmygal as Minister of Energy. Against this backdrop, Kucherenko's call for the government's personal responsibility is perceived as an address to the current cabinet headed by Koretsky.
Contradictory Data
The difference lies primarily in how various media outlets interpret the statement. RBC-Ukraine and other sources present Kucherenko's speech as a constructive call for personnel decisions and for the government to take responsibility ahead of the heating season. At the same time, a number of media outlets (for example, materials in the vein of news.mail.ru) characterize the same statement as the deputy's emotional reaction to the crisis in the energy sector, using evaluative phrasing such as "hysteria." The factual data on the date of the statement (August 24, 2026) and the list of companies mentioned coincide across sources; the discrepancy concerns only the tone of presentation and whether the speech is a systemic call or public criticism. In addition, the claim that the listed companies are headed exclusively by acting officials is the deputy's own position and has not been confirmed by a separate independent audit in the provided sources.
Thus, Kucherenko's statement highlights an acute personnel issue in Ukrainian energy on the eve of winter: before the start of the heating season, a number of strategic companies, in the parliamentarian's assessment, remain without full-fledged leaders, and responsibility for their work, in his words, must be assigned to the government and the Prime Minister personally.
