24.11.2025
The Energy Club business community has submitted an official appeal to the Office of the President, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), the Cabinet of Ministers, and relevant ministries regarding the critical situation surrounding public electricity procurement.
The appeal was prompted by mass lawsuits filed by the Prosecutor’s Office against energy suppliers and the opening of criminal proceedings due to price increases in procurement contracts exceeding 10%. Energy Club emphasizes that such actions by law enforcement fail to account for wartime realities and the specific nature of the energy market, threatening companies with bankruptcy and risking the destabilization of the energy system.
The Core Issue: Law vs. Reality
Currently, the Prosecutor’s Office interprets any unit price increase exceeding 10% as a violation of the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement.” However, this position ignores special regulations in effect during martial law, specifically Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1178. This document allows for price adjustments proportional to market fluctuations without strict caps for contracts concluded before September 2025, aiming to ensure uninterrupted power supply to hospitals, schools, and utility companies.
Energy Club’s Arguments
In the appeal, Energy Club President Andrii Kostrytsia presented a series of facts confirming the legitimacy of suppliers’ actions:
Force Majeure Circumstances: Electricity prices are dynamic and depend on infrastructure shelling and generation deficits. For instance, in just one day following an attack in October 2025, the price on the “day-ahead market” jumped by nearly 17%.
Rising Costs: Suppliers are dependent on producer prices (particularly Energoatom) and transmission and distribution tariffs, which are constantly rising. In 2024, electricity procurement prices increased by up to 62% in certain months.
Financial Traps: Suppliers incur losses due to imbalances, where Ukrenergo purchases surpluses at low rates while deficits must be covered at inflated tariffs.
Double Standards
The appeal highlights a paradoxical situation: the very Prosecutor’s Offices suing suppliers are themselves signing additional agreements with price increases far exceeding 10%.
An analysis of the Prozorro system revealed that Prosecutor’s Offices in various regions (Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Zakarpattia, etc.) signed agreements increasing electricity costs by 20%, 40%, 50%, and even over 70%. This demonstrates that even state bodies acting as procuring entities acknowledge the impossibility of maintaining prices within a 10% limit under current market realities.
Community Demands
Energy Club warns: if the pressure does not cease, suppliers will be forced to withdraw from state tenders. This will lead to a collapse of the procurement system and the transfer of consumers to the more expensive “supplier of last resort.”
The community calls on the authorities to organize an urgent coordination meeting involving the NEURC (Regulator), the Ministry of Energy, Ukrenergo, and market participants. The goal is to develop a unified legal position that considers European legislation and the real economic conditions of the energy sector during the war.
