28.09.2026
The war has changed not only Ukraine’s energy sector but also the very understanding of leadership in the industry. At a time when energy companies operate every day under the threat of attacks, blackouts, market instability and high financial responsibility, the ability to make swift decisions, maintain resilient teams and preserve partners’ trust has come to the fore.
This experience will be discussed by participants of the Energy Club forum “The energy of women’s leadership: women holding Ukraine’s energy front”, which will take place in Kyiv on 15 October. The discussion will focus on crisis management, operational resilience, recovery strategies, investment, market transformation and the green transition. An important part of the conversation will address the contribution of women – a contribution that is still not always visible beyond companies and professional circles.
One of the forum speakers will be Iryna Cheban, Regional Manager for Ukraine, GEN-I, d.o.o. She has unique experience working for an international energy company that trades energy commodities across 26 countries and combines trading, energy supply and renewable energy development.
In an interview with Energy Club journalist Olena Karpachova, Iryna Cheban spoke about what it means to be a woman leader in an energy sector operating amid war, how the Ukrainian market has changed in the eyes of European partners, and why resilience today means not only the ability to withstand pressure but also the ability to adapt rapidly. They also discussed the future of Ukraine’s energy sector, new technologies, European integration and the role of women in shaping that future.
– Ms Cheban, GEN-I operates in energy markets across 26 countries. How has the role of the Ukrainian market changed for international energy companies since the full-scale invasion, and what surprises European partners most about Ukraine’s energy sector today?
– Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the role of the Ukrainian market has undergone a fundamental transformation: from a regional market, it has become a strategic stronghold of energy security for the whole of Europe. The synchronization with ENTSO-E in March 2022 was not merely a technical step but a geopolitical turning point. Initially, European companies viewed cooperation with Ukraine primarily through the lens of high risks. Today, however, the Ukrainian market is a fully-fledged, flexible and dynamic element of the European energy system.
What surprises European partners most is the extraordinary resilience of Ukrainians and the operational flexibility of the energy system as a whole. They see that even after massive attacks, the Ukrainian energy system restores operations, trading does not stop for a minute, auctions for cross-border interconnections continue to be held, and contractual obligations are fulfilled. Another factor that impresses our Western colleagues is the speed of adaptation: Ukrainian specialists implement solutions within days or weeks, whereas similar bureaucratic and technical approvals in the EU can take months and sometimes years.
– The energy sector has traditionally been regarded as a “male” industry. Have you had to overcome professional stereotypes, and what qualities, in your view, make a woman a strong leader in energy today?
– For a long time, the energy sector was considered a conservative industry with a predominantly “male” profile, particularly in technical areas and commercial trading. At the beginning of my career, I had to overcome initial stereotypes, including during training and practical work involving electrical installation, welding and soldering. Nevertheless, the assessment criteria were always the same for everyone.
Experience shows that in the international energy sector, the universal response to any skepticism is strong professional expertise, analytical skills and a reliable reputation.
Modern leadership in energy is based on flexibility and the ability to adapt rather than gender. The key qualities that shape strong female leadership in this field include:
– Crisis periods reveal a leader’s true management style. What has been the most difficult management decision you have had to make in recent years, and why was it so decisive for you?
– The most difficult decisions in recent years concerned ensuring the continuity of trading and logistics operations during the first days of the full-scale invasion and throughout the blackouts. At the beginning, no market participant knew whether the market would continue to exist at all. We had to assume financial and operational risks in order to keep the company’s operations and cross-border electricity flows running – at a time when conventional risk-management tools had ceased to work and the regulatory framework could not keep pace with reality.
These decisions proved decisive because they demonstrated that, at a critical moment, trust and partnership are more important than formal protocols. We took responsibility, preserved our contracts and brought our partnerships to a new level of reliability.
– GEN-I is one of the leaders in low-carbon energy in Europe. How realistic is it to lay the foundations for Ukraine’s “green” post-war energy system already today, despite the war?
– By trading EU Allowances (EUAs) – special greenhouse gas emission allowances – and Guarantees of Origin (GO), as well as facilitating PPA agreements, we help companies reduce emissions, achieve their sustainability targets and meet compliance requirements through verified renewable energy assets. Together with our partners, primarily power producers and environmental traders, we are creating a tangible impact on the low-carbon future.
Laying this foundation is not simply realistic – it is the only right path forward. Rebuilding destroyed energy facilities according to outdated Soviet-era concepts would be a strategic mistake.
Ukraine’s “green” transition during the war must be based on decentralization and local resilience. Even now, the development of renewable energy, together with battery energy storage systems (BESS) and distributed generation, is creating a system that is technically more difficult for the enemy to destroy. In addition, the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) makes the “green” track not merely an environmental initiative but a direct economic requirement for the future export of Ukrainian products and electricity to the EU.
– The European energy market is changing rapidly. What practices, technologies or business approaches could Ukraine adopt already today in order to become a fully-fledged part of the European energy space after victory?
– GEN-I is one of the most dynamic trading and supply companies in Central and Southeastern Europe, so its experience can significantly accelerate the full integration of the Ukrainian energy market into the European energy space. Ukraine should already be accelerating the implementation of the following instruments:
– Behind every successful contract or trading transaction are people. How do you maintain partners’ trust and keep your team effective amid constant uncertainty?
– The foundation of trust with international partners is absolute transparency and predictability in communication.
GEN-I ranked first as the best power trader in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and Southeastern Europe (SEE), while also taking second place in the categories “Best Overall Energy Trader” and “Best Overall Power Trader” in the Energy Risk Commodity Rankings. [1] (https://www.gen-igroup.com/news/gen-i-received-prestigeous-energy-risk-2026-awards-in-houston/), (https://www.gen-igroup.com/news/gen-i-reaffirms-leadership-as-best-power-dealer/)
Even when force majeure circumstances or operational disruptions occur due to attacks or grid constraints, partners should be the first to know, together with ready-to-implement solutions.
When it comes to supporting the team, several things are essential:
– Today, more and more young women are choosing careers in energy. What would you advise those who are just starting their careers but dream of working internationally?
– Invest in fundamental knowledge: learn in depth how energy markets work – the European Target Model, EFET contracts, pricing mechanisms and CBAM. Deep expertise is your strongest shield and your most valuable currency.
Never be afraid to ask questions and step beyond your area of responsibility: the international market values initiative and the ability to see the entire value chain.
Build a strong professional network and develop fluent professional English: energy is, first and foremost, a market of relationships and agreements between people.
– Do you think the contribution of women to the resilience of Ukraine’s energy sector is being discussed enough today, or does much of their work still remain “behind the scenes”?
– The situation is beginning to change for the better, but a significant part of women’s work in the energy sector still remains in the shadows. Society sees energy workers on the front line – and this well-deserved recognition belongs to dispatchers, repair crews and engineers.
However, a huge amount of work – analytics, complex international negotiations, financing, legal support, development of CBAM models, daily trading and operational coordination – relies to a significant extent on women. We need to speak louder about this “invisible front” of resilience, because it provides the economic and operational foundation for the functioning of the entire energy system.
– How do you see Ukraine’s energy sector five years from now? What role will international partnerships, innovation and women leaders play in this future?
– In five years, I see Ukraine’s energy sector as modern, highly decentralized, fully integrated into the European market and focused on the “green” transition. It will become not merely a consumer of security but a key guarantor of flexibility and a supplier of clean energy to Central and Eastern Europe.
The role of the key components of this future will be as follows:
Ukraine’s energy sector is already undergoing challenges that normally shape the future of entire industries. The war is forcing it to become more flexible, faster and more technology-driven, while European integration opens an opportunity not merely to restore what has been lost but to build a fundamentally new system.
This process is also changing the very meaning of leadership. It is becoming less dependent on established perceptions of “male” or “female” professions and increasingly defined by competence, responsibility and the ability to lead others amid uncertainty. Women are already an integral part of the new energy trajectory, and their voices should be heard not only when the sector is facing a crisis but also when it is deciding what its next chapter will look like.
