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Internal frontline. How Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of the Office of the President, is taking control of the Ministry of Energy, the NERC, and state energy companies.
Rostyslav Shurma has partly replaced the government's economic bloc. He controls the work of the energy minister, the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Communal Services, Energoatom, the State Property Fund, and about a dozen other state enterprises. (13.05 text updated by news with details)
Four years ago, the acting deputy head of the Office of the President Rostyslav Shurma was the general director of the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, part of the Metinvest group of oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, the publication Business-Censor recalls.
Today he coordinates the work of more than ten heads of state enterprises and regulators, whose financial flows and influence over Ukraine's economy surpass the capabilities of the country's wealthiest man.
The son of a regionalist and a deputy from the Opposition Bloc, Rostyslav Shurma earned an economics degree at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (bachelor) and at the Kyiv Economic University named after Hetman (master). In 2011-2012 years he studied at the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management.
From 2006 to 2019 he worked in Metinvest group structures in various leadership positions, including heading Zaporizhstal for 2012.
Parallel to working for Akhmetov's structures, Shurma participated in regional politics for the Party of Regions and the Opposition Bloc:
- In 2010 he was elected a deputy of the Donetsk regional council from the Party of Regions.
- In 2015 he was appointed head of the Zaporizhia regional party organization of the Opposition Bloc.
- In 2019 he ran for the Verkhovna Rada from the Opposition Bloc party.
After Volodymyr Zelensky's victory in the presidential election and the appointment of Andriy Yermak as head of his office, Shurma became an informal adviser to the Office of the President.
In 2021 he was appointed a member of the supervisory board of Ukroboronprom, and later deputy head of Yermak's Office.
In the Office of the President, Shurma is responsible for economic policy.
He is also the initiator of a tax reform that envisions a single rate of corporate income tax, personal income tax, and VAT at 10%. At the same time, almost all tax breaks would be abolished, penalties for tax violations would be tightened, and the Tax Service would have access to banking information to prevent tax avoidance.
Although the International Monetary Fund does not support the tax reform, which would reduce budget revenues, in the Office of the President they continue to work on it.
However, changing Ukraine's tax landscape is not the main area of work for Deputy Head of the OP Shurma.
Several officials from the energy sector, company heads, and deputies confirmed that Rostyslav Shurma has partly replaced the government's economic bloc.
In particular, he oversees the work of:
- Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko;
- head of the energy sector regulator, which sets tariff policy, of the National Commission for State Regulation in the spheres of energy and utilities, Kostyantin Ushhapovskyi;
- president of Energoatom Petro Kotin (the company produces more than half of the country's electricity);
- head of the State Property Fund Rustem Umerov.
Shurma also approves appointments/removals of heads of state energy enterprises and coordinates their work.
In particular, with Shurma's facilitation, the state energy trading company, AT Energetychna kompaniia Ukrayny (EKU), was created, headed by Vitalii Butenko—former director of D.Trading of Akhmetov.
Energetic Company of Ukraine engages in the export of electricity produced by Energoatom. Immediately after its creation it received from Energoatom 500 million UAH in reverse funding, as well as a delay in payment for electricity for 90 days.
Rostyslav Shurma supported the appointment of his former colleague Dmytro Lippa as head of the Gas Transportation System Operator of Ukraine. By the end of December last year, Lippa served as general director of the Kametstal metallurgical plant, part of the Metinvest group.
After Lippa's appointment in March 2023, the chair of the supervisory board of the MGU, which was entrusted with the shares of the Operator of the Gas Transmission System, Ubert Betteonville, announced his resignation due to "some members of the supervisory board of MGU not applying EU standards and corporate governance principles.".
Bettonville noted that she could not launch the reform of the Gas Transmission System Operator approved by the Energy Community and the World Bank, namely the liquidation of MGU and the creation of a supervisory board in the Operator of the GTS. The reason is that the energy minister Halushchenko and part of the MGU supervisory board do not want to liquidate the company so as not to lose influence over the Operator of the GTS.
In addition to changing the leadership of the Operator of the GTS, Shurma initiated the creation of a state energy holding, AT Ukrainian Distribution Networks (URM).
This holding is to unite all electricity distribution system operators (regional distribution companies) that the state can bring under control. In the first stage, six state distribution companies are planned. Currently, in URM's charter capital are shares of Mykolaivoblenergo and Khmelnytskyoblenergo. Later, five more distribution companies from the Russian VS Energy group may join.
The holding is led by Mykhailo Ilnytsky, who previously headed Chernihivoblenergo from the group of Konstantin Grigorishin. Nevertheless, Ilnytsky reports to deputy head of the Office Shurma.
The deputy head of the Office of the President also approved the appointment of Serhiy Koretsky as head of the largest oil company Ukrnafta and of the Kremenchuk PZ after these enterprises passed from Ihor Kolomoyskyi's Privat Group into state ownership and were transferred to the Ministry of Defense for management.
Through the energy minister Halushchenko, the head of the state trader of coal Ukrvugol Oleksandr Heilo is under his jurisdiction. In March it became known that the company sold coal from state mines to private companies at a discount of up to 50%.
This was one of the reasons for the lack of coal at state power plants during the heating season. Accordingly, state TPPs faced a choice: buy expensive from Akhmetov's companies or burn state gas.
Through Halushchenko, Shurma also controls the head of the state-owned power generating company Centrenergo, Volodymyr Yegorov. He was appointed in December 2022 as acting chairman of the board. Before that, he led the trading company D-Trading of Maksym Yefimov.
In addition, the deputy head of the Office is targeted by the head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate Oleh Korikov, the director of the Market Operator Oleksandr Gavva, and the head of the State Enterprise Lesy Ukrainy Yuriy Blokhovets.
Sources of Business-Censor.com drew attention to another leader of an important enterprise who was appointed with Shurma's protection. This is Oleksiy Nikiforov, who in November 2022 became head of the state-owned aircraft engine producer Motor Sich.
Previously, Nikiforov was the deputy mayor of Zaporizhzhia. From June 2016 to April 2021 he headed Zaporizhstal's water utility, when the city’s mayor was Volodymyr Burak—a former figure in Rinat Akhmetov's structures. Until 2016 he worked for Metinvest enterprises, including Zaporizhstal, which Shurma led.
Enterprises reported to the deputy head of the Office (list not exhaustive)
Organization
Head of organization
Ministry of Energy
Herman Halushchenko
NERC (National Commission for Energy, Utilities and Regulated Services)
Kostyantyn Ushchapovskyi
Energoatom
Petro Kotin
State energy trader EKU
Vitalii Butenko
Ukrainian Distribution Systems (URD)
Mykhailo Ilnytskyi
OGTSU (Operator of Gas Transmission System of Ukraine)
Dmytro Lippa
State Property Fund
Rustem Umerov
Ukrnafta
Serhiy Koretsky
State Nuclear Regulatory Inspection
Oleh Khorikov
State trader Ukrvugillya
Oleksandr Heilo
Centrenergo
Volodymyr Yegorov
Market Operator
Oleksandr Gavva
State forestry agency / Lesy Ukrainy (State Enterprise Lesy of Ukraine)
Yuriy Blokhovets
Motor Sich
Oleksii Nikiforov
Yuriy Vynnychuk, published in Business-Censor
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Внутрішній фронт. Як заступник Єрмака бере під контроль Міненерго, НКРЕКП, та державні енергопідприємства". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
