Hostile takeover of regional energy company in Kharkiv

Yesterday, 28 April, at around 19:00, a hostile takeover of the regional energy company took place in Kharkiv. According to IT Sector, around 70 young men in balaclavas broke into the premises of Kharkivoblenergo. Company staff immediately called a police patrol, but the officers who arrived at the scene took no action, simply standing aside and observing.

In addition to seizing the regional energy company building, the perpetrators attacked Evgeniy Klementiev, an operator for one of the Kharkiv channels, and stole a flash drive containing filmed material.

It emerged this morning that Kharkivoblenergo has a new head. The previous one was dismissed, and in his place, acting as chairman of the board of directors, Vladimir Georgievych Yavorsky was appointed, who until recently held the position of sales director at Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, a joint-stock company controlled by oligarch Renat Akhmetov.

It appears that the oligarch’s demands are growing, although it is not ruled out that yesterday’s incident is nothing more than an attempt to pressure the authorities.