28.07.2025
The Energy Club’s systematic efforts to resolve the issue of fines for size and weight control (SWC) violations for energy workers’ emergency crews are yielding their first results. In response to an official inquiry from the Club, JSC “Sumyoblenergo” has provided specific data that document the systemic nature and absurdity of this problem for distribution system operators (DSOs) working in front-line regions.
In his letter to the President of the Energy Club, Andriy Kostrytsia, the Head of the Board of JSC “Sumyoblenergo,” Borys Popov, reported that as of July 25, 2025, five fines totaling 170,000 UAH had been imposed on the company’s employees who were carrying out emergency repairs.
Particularly telling is what follows. According to the letter, three of the citations have already been appealed in court, but the decisions were not in favor of the energy workers, resulting in the fines being imposed directly on the employees. Two more cases are in the process of appeal, but there is little optimism within the company for a positive outcome. The key problem, as highlighted by “Sumyoblenergo,” is that the official processing of a travel permit for special equipment takes at least 14 days. In wartime conditions, when thousands of facilities in the border territory are damaged, and a mobile crane is critically important for replacing heavy equipment (poles weighing up to 7 tons, transformers weighing tens of tons), waiting two weeks is unacceptable. This forces the company to choose: either leave tens of thousands of people without electricity or commit a “forced violation of SWC” to perform an urgent repair.
As an example, the letter cites a case where two fines were issued for using a mobile crane for the emergency restoration of a high-voltage line that supplies about 50,000 consumers and is strategically important for power transit between regions.
“We are sincerely grateful to JSC ‘Sumyoblenergo’ and personally to Borys Popov for their swift response and the data provided. This letter is not just numbers; it is documentary evidence of the absurdity of the situation,” emphasized the President of the Energy Club, Andriy Kostrytsia. “When energy workers in a front-line territory are forced to choose between a fine for their driver and electricity for a district of 50,000 people, it means the system is broken. These specific facts will strengthen our collective position in our dialogue with the NEURC, the Government, and the Verkhovna Rada. We will demand immediate amendments to the Road Traffic Regulations to grant DSO special vehicles the same status as other emergency services.”
As a reminder, the Energy Club previously appealed to the Ministry of Infrastructure, from which it received a formal response, and also sent letters to the NEURC and the heads of Oblast Military Administrations, urging them to support the initiative at the state level. The collection of data from all DSOs is ongoing.
