The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine spoke out "categorically against" privatization, full or partial private ownership of NNEGC "Energoatom" and the country's nuclear power plants. The ministry insists on the corporatization of Energoatom while the state retains 100% of the company's shares.
According to the Ministry of Energy, this position was supported by Prime Minister Denis Shmygal and all participants in the meeting, which took place on October 27 under the chairmanship of the head of government. The management of Energoatom was present at the discussion of all issues related to the corporatization of Energoatom and did not express any objections to the adoption of the relevant decisions.
The corporatization of Energoatom, according to the Ministry of Energy, should be carried out exclusively in compliance with the following principles:
- full compliance with the best international practices;
- tough restrictions on the alienation of property related to nuclear facilities and nuclear materials;
- clear certainty in the handling of nuclear materials;
- absolute transparency at the stage of implementation of corporatization and further during the functioning of the newly joint-stock company.
“The choice of the optimal model for Energoatom's corporatization was preceded by a long-term study by the consulting company Deloitte, which analyzed all possible options for corporatization and presented them for consideration by the Ministry of Energy and Energoatom. After joint discussions, an option was chosen that does not provide for the privatization of the company, ”the Ministry of Energy said.
In the case of Energoatom, the corporatization process requires amendments to the legislation and the Ministry expects that all the necessary changes will be supported by the Verkhovna Rada. At the same time, the Ministry of Energy calls for a clear distinction between the processes of corporatization and corporate governance reforms.
The introduction of the Supervisory Board of Energoatom is provided for by the current legislation, the charter of the enterprise and complies with the principles of corporate governance of the OECD.
The management of SE NNEGC Energoatom opposed the holding of a competition for the positions of members of the company's supervisory board, which was recently initiated by the Ministry of Energy to conduct a corporatization process that requires amendments to the legislation. The corresponding statement was published on October 30 by the press center of the generating company.
"The decision of the Ministry of Energy to announce a competitive selection of candidates for four vacant positions of independent members of the Supervisory Board of Energoatom is unacceptable, destructive and impossible to implement," the words cited in the message. and. about. President of the company Petr Kotin.
He also added that the supervisory board should be created after corporatization, which requires changes in legislation.
"Only full-fledged corporatization after the adoption of a special law will allow creating a joint-stock company, taking into account the best global corporate governance practices and avoiding the negative experience of corporatization in Ukraine, and only in such a company will it be possible to create an effective collegial supervisory body," said Kotin.
