The Ukrainian government has approved the selection of four independent members for the new supervisory board of nuclear utility Energoatom, according to Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The previous board was dismissed in November as part of the ongoing investigation into corruption by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
The four independent members of the new board have been unanimously approved, Svyrydenko said. Three additional state representatives will be selected for the board in early January 2026. The approved members are Canadian engineer Rumina Velshi, Lithuanian finance expert Laura Garbenciute-Bakiene, former Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman, and French attorney Brice Bohuon.
Velshi is an international expert in nuclear safety and regulatory oversight with over 40 years of experience. She has led Canada’s nuclear regulator, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Standards Commission, and the International Nuclear Regulators Association.
Garbenciute-Bakiene is a specialist in finance, audits, and risk management in the energy sector. She brings over 25 years in the industry, with management experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at strategic energy facilities, including Lithuania’s Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.
Fragman is the former President and CEO of the US nuclear power company Westinghouse. Bohuon is a lawyer specialising in energy regulation and corporate governance. He has held senior positions at EDF and has worked for the French Energy Regulatory Commission.
Ukraine is also continuing to reform the supervisory boards of other state energy companies, including Naftogaz, Ukrenergo, and Ukrhydroenergo, Svyrydenko said. A total of 12 companies are undergoing major review. A state audit of Energoatom is also underway.
Energoatom is the largest producer of electricity in Ukraine and manages the Ukraine’s Rivne, Khmelnitsky and South Ukraine NPPs NPPs (Zaporizhia NPP is now part of Russia’s Rosatom). Energoatom has faced numerous accusations of corruption, particularly bribery and embezzlement.
On 10 November NABU announced that a criminal group was operating Energoatom, members of which took kickbacks from contractors in the amount of 10-15% of the value of contracts. NABU did not initially name those involved. The names were later revealed and widely reported by Ukrainian media. They included businessman Timur Mindich, former advisor to the Minister of Energy Igor Myronyuk, Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of Energoatom Dmitry Basov, and former Energy Minister (subsequently Justice Minister) German Galushchenko. Earlier, in August, Energoatom President Petro Kotin had been arrested on separate corruption charges.
On 19 November, the Ukrainian parliament dismissed Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk (who had taken over the post from Galushchenko in July). The European Solidarity party stated. “One hundred million dollars that could have gone to protect the energy infrastructure had turned up in Energoatom’s schemes.”
First Deputy Minister of Energy Artem Nekrasov was appointed to temporarily perform the duties of Acting Energy Minister. However. the post of Energy Minister remain vacant until early January, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named former Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal as Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Ministry, citing the need for stable leadership as Ukraine works to restore its damaged energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, the corruption investigation continues.
Galushchenko began his career as a prosecutor in Lviv, then moved to Kyiv in the late 1990s, spending 13 years in the Presidential Administration under Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko. Former colleagues describe him as a skilled, ambitious lawyer who “could solve any bureaucratic issue” and displayed “uncompromising devotion to management”.
He negotiated the frequent pollical changes in Ukraine changing his allegiance as necessary. In 2013 Galushchenko joined Energoatom as executive director for legal affairs and subsequently became Deputy President under Petro Kotin. During 2020–2021 Energoatom saw a resurgence of old schemes, Eualive.net reported.
These included electricity sold below market price to Ihor Kolomoisky-linked United Energy, costing the state nearly UAH100m ($2.3m) according to a NABU estimate. There was also a rushed, violation-riddled contract, signed by vice-president Galushchenko, for a used nuclear fuel storage facility in Chernobyl. NABU later charged contractors with embezzling nearly UAH100m from that project.
In April 2021, amid a prolonged crisis at the Energy Ministry, Galushchenko was unexpectedly appointed to the post. As minister, he is accused of systematically subordinating independent state energy companies. He removed nuclear regulator chief Hryhoriy Plachkov in 2021 after he refused to approve questionable projects, including completion of Khmelnitsky NPP units and the Chernobyl storage facility.
He transferred grid operator Ukrenergo from Finance Ministry oversight to Energy Ministry control, later engineering the 2024 dismissal of CEO Volodymyr Kudrytsky amid intense pressure that independent Supervisory Board members called political.
Eualive.net said Galushchenko’s flagship project was completing two unfinished reactors (units 3&4) at the Khmelnitsky NPP. He aggressively promoted a hybrid approach: building the units with Westinghouse AP1000 technology for enhanced safety and efficiency, while using a cheaper, interim solution of purchasing two unused Soviet-era VVER-1000 reactor pressure vessels from Bulgaria to jumpstart construction. These projects are also believed to have involved substantial kickbacks to all those involved.
