Employees of the Kyiv Institute "Energoproekt" claim pressure from Ministry of Energy
Over the past few months, officials of the Ministry of Energy have been systematically putting pressure on the Kyiv Research and Design Institute Energoproekt (KIEP), a unique design institution that is a treasure not only for Ukraine but also for Europe.
This was stated by Yurii Sapozhnikov, Chairman of the Board of JSC KIEP, during a joint press conference "Energy Sector of Ukraine: Threats, Challenges, Solutions" at Interfax-Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
Initially, the Ministry of Energy tried to illegally seize the Institute's unique archival documentation for 90 years of existence, which would have made it impossible to carry out design work, in particular, at the request of Energoatom.
And in April this year, there was a deliberate blocking of the reservation of 50% of employees of military age, although KIEP is the last strategically important institution that has retained up to 350 highly qualified design engineers. "The simultaneous issuance of 52 draft notices to employees of the same institution by officials of the Ministry of Energy looks like an attempt to put outright pressure on the Institute using their authority," emphasizes Yurii Sapozhnikov. In addition, the deliberate suspension of payments for the work performed by the Institute (through Energoatom) in the amount of UAH 26 million was organised.
According to the team of JSC KIEP, the actions of the Ministry of Energy officials are aimed at destroying or establishing full control over the independent designer in order to be able to uncontrollably inflate prices in their estimates for the construction of new generation facilities, in particular, Khmelnytskyi NPP Units 3 and 4. This creates all the conditions for large-scale corruption.
In this regard, a representative of JSC KIEP called for an end to the arbitrariness of the Ministry of Energy officials and to prevent the destruction of the Institute. The company also hopes for the support of the President, the government, the public and the start of a dialogue to find ways to restore full energy supply in the country.
"In a difficult period for our country, blocking the work or liquidation of such a unique institution as KIEP will have large-scale and tragic consequences. At a minimum, all engineering works related to repairs at Ukrainian NPPs and the creation of distributed protected power generation will be stopped. At the most, new NPP units will not be completed, and the country's energy sector will not receive new additional capacities. In this case, we will have to forget about the new gigawatt of generation by the end of 2024 announced by the President of Ukraine," stated Yurii Sapozhnikov.
The unique institution of KIEP has been designated as a critical enterprise of the fuel and energy complex for the functioning of the economy and the livelihoods of the population.
