17.07.2026
On July 16, in Kyiv, Energy Club hosted the forum “Corporate Governance in Energy: From Formal Rules to Real Responsibility,” which served as the conclusion of a three-month special project dedicated to developing a modern corporate governance model in the Ukrainian energy sector. The event brought together representatives of Energy Club member companies, public authorities, the Verkhovna Rada, the energy business, and the legal and expert communities to discuss practical mechanisms for increasing the efficiency of managing state-owned and private energy companies.
One of the key speakers of the forum was Oleksandr Lysenko, head of the Corporate Governance Center of the Kyiv School of Public Administration and an independent consultant on corporate governance. In his speech, he analyzed the results Ukraine has achieved over more than ten years of corporate governance reform, why international standards have already become part of Ukrainian legislation but still do not work fully, and what steps should become the next stage of the reform.
The expert emphasized that corporate governance is primarily about clear, transparent, and predictable company management procedures.
“Over ten years of reform, we managed to create a legislative framework for corporate governance. The OECD noted significant progress of Ukraine and recognized that our rules comply with its recommendations. But there is an important nuance – the implementation of this reform remains uneven,” emphasized Oleksandr Lysenko.
According to the speaker, today the problem lies no longer in the absence of laws, but in their practical application. Frequent exceptions to established procedures, situational decisions, and manual management undermine the very philosophy of corporate governance.
“Corporate governance is about predictability. As soon as people start bypassing established procedures, even with the best intentions, it does not improve the system, but only demonstrates its weakness,” the expert noted.
Oleksandr Lysenko emphasized that the main challenge for the state today is to ensure the enforcement of already adopted rules.
According to him, Ukraine must move from constantly improving legislation to forming a culture of its compliance. This is what will make it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the reform and move to its next stage.
The expert dedicated a significant part of his speech to the work of supervisory boards.
He emphasized that the mere presence of a supervisory board does not yet mean high-quality corporate governance. Much more important are its independence, professionalism, effective work of committees, and personal responsibility for adopted decisions.
Separately, Oleksandr Lysenko drew attention to the role of state representatives on supervisory boards. In his conviction, regardless of the method of appointment, they must act not in the interests of a specific ministry or political leadership, but exclusively in the interests of the company itself.
At the same time, he admitted that in practice, this is precisely where most conflicts arise between political decisions and corporate governance principles.
The expert cited a number of examples from the practice of state-owned companies, which testify that despite the created legislative framework, corporate governance mechanisms often remain formal.
According to him, it is precisely the practice of appointing executives, the work of supervisory boards, conducting independent audits, and evaluating management that shows the real state of the reform.
“Our rules are already at an advanced level, but the practice of their enforcement is only at the initial stage. This is exactly what the scandals that still occur in state-owned companies indicate,” emphasized Oleksandr Lysenko.
A separate block of the speech concerned international experience.
The head of the Corporate Governance Center of the Kyiv School of Public Administration drew attention to a large-scale OECD report of 2026, which contains a detailed analysis of the Ukrainian reform, explains the causes of existing problems, and proposes concrete mechanisms for their solution.
In his opinion, Ukraine does not need to create its own unique corporate governance model – it is sufficient to properly adapt and implement international practices that have already proven their effectiveness in various countries.
One of the possible solutions the expert named was the independent regulator model, which operates, in particular, in Romania and controls compliance with corporate governance standards by state-owned companies.
In conclusion, Oleksandr Lysenko emphasized that modern corporate governance has long gone beyond the relationship between the owner and management. Today, it takes into account the interests of creditors, investors, employees, international partners, and society as a whole. That is why state-owned companies must operate not only efficiently, but also transparently, responsibly, and predictably.
Summarizing, the expert noted that Ukraine has already completed the most difficult part of the reform – it has created a modern legislative architecture for corporate governance. Now the main task of the state, business, and all participants in the process is to ensure its full implementation in practice. It is on this that the trust of international partners, the attraction of investments, and the resilience of the Ukrainian energy sector in the conditions of post-war recovery will depend.
