The government failed to adequately protect its energy facilities from Russian strikes, despite instructions from the President and the National Security and Defense Council. The TPPs destroyed by enemy strikes had only the first level of protection, which is not capable of saving the plants from drone attacks, let alone missiles.
For months, the head of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, Oleksandr Kubrakov, has been talking about the protection of TPPs, which has no analogues. He signed memorandums with hundreds of companies, governments, and financial organizations, and boasted of his achievements. However, he never pointed out any problems in the implementation of the NSDC decision.
Only after the destruction of several thermal power plants by Russia did it become clear that the government had not allocated funds for missile defense , and the specially created agency was not going to protect thermal generation because it was not within its competence.
How Kubrakov's statements have changed and who should be responsible for the disruption of the organization of the protection of energy facilities, OBOZ.UA writes, UNN reports.
The problems were only discussed when they became obvious
Last October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision of the National Security and Defense Councilthat obliged the government to protect energy facilities. The State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development was created specifically for this purpose. It was headed by Mustafa Nayem. The Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov also took up the protection of energy facilities.
As the publication notes, for months, both Nayyem and Kubrakov have been talking about "protection that has no analogues," about a "historic project." They talked a lot about three levels of protection: the first from debris, the second from drones, and the third from missiles.
For us, this is the most important project because, according to calculations, it will be able to protect against the biggest threats, such as Daggers or Iskandars. All solutions have been developed and agreed with the General Staff. Some of them are already ready
Kubrakov also spoke about three levels of protection.
Strengthening the protection of energy facilities was among the priorities for 2023. We started building three levels of protection - from debris, from drones, and from missiles. And we have already confirmed evidence that the second level of protection helped us get through this winter
However, before the recent devastating Russian attacks, they had never voiced any problems with the arrangement of defense structures.
The Cabinet of Ministers has not allocated funds for the third level of protection, and the government has not been involved in protecting TPPs at all, the newspaper writes.
All of this reportedly became known only after the Russians destroyed two thermal power plants and damaged several others.
It seems that only the enemy was well aware of the lack of effective protection of the stations, according to OBOZ.UA. At the same time, Ukrainians and international partners were at least publicly reassured with stories about unparalleled protection.
Maxim Shkil, CEO of MS Capital Holding , said that the issue of defense was not a priority for the Ministry of Finance. The President set the task back in October 2022, Avtostrada invested more than $100 million in materials and production facilities, but it stopped there.
The third level of protection was not provided because no funds were allocated for it.
We have sent letters to the Cabinet of Ministers to allocate funding, but there has been no response. We are left face to face with these problems, billions of dollars in loans and debts. I assume that the calculation was that there would be no shelling and maybe somehow it would go away
"Russia has destroyed almost all thermal generation," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on April 18. It turned out that the government did not protect the TPPs at all.
"By default, this is the responsibility of the owners of the facilities - private and state-owned companies. Such as, for example, Centrenergo, DTEK and others," Nayem said.
In other words, the entire energy sector and critical infrastructure had to be protected by the state and private entrepreneurs who owned the thermal power plants. And, of course, they had no money for this and could not have any, because such protection is not provided for in the tariffs.
"We are working to protect only Ukrenergo's distribution substations. These are the 22 most critical substations of the company's main grid in 14 regions, with voltages of 750 and 330 kV. Our team is the customer for the construction of the second and third levels of protection - against drones and missiles. This is not classified information. The project documentation in terms of the types of protective structures and the nature of engineering equipment is approved by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service and NPC Ukrenergo," Nayem said .
And, of course, the owners failed to provide protection. Centrenergo claimed to have completed 100% of the work on the protection of Trypilska TPP and 70% of Zmiivska TPP against debris only (according to the agency's methodology, this is the first level of protection). Such protection cannot even protect against a direct drone hit. The TPPs were destroyed by missiles.
Kubrakov signed dozens of memorandums with governments and hundreds of companies. But memoranda are not enough to protect the energy sector.
Instead of seeking funds to protect the energy sector or at least trying to publicly voice the problems, the politician held dozens of meetings and signed numerous memorandums. If instead of papers, each signatory had provided assistance to strengthen energy facilities, it would have helped to protect the thermal power industry at least partially.
As noted, Kubrakov has signed a memorandum of understanding with the largest international organization in the field of construction consulting, a memorandum of cooperation with the Chargé d'Affaires of Switzerland in Ukraine Andreas Huber, a memorandum of understanding with USAID ESP, a memorandum of intent with about 600 companies to contribute to the restoration of Ukraine, and a separate memorandum with Korean business. And also with the UK and the European Investment Bank
The memoranda do not provide for clear commitments and are rather declarative documents. Most of the meetings included discussions, including energy protection. However, politicians have never publicly asked for financial assistance.
If the government could not find billions to effectively protect energy facilities, it will have to find tens of billions to import electricity, build new plants and restore those that have been significantly damaged. The publication emphasizes that government officials must answer: who is responsible for the protection of thermal power plants, what has been done to find funds for the third level of protection, and why did they start talking about the problems only after a significant part of the heat generation was destroyed?