Dmitry Ivanov, co-founder of the "Dobrobat" volunteer movement, criticized the government's approach to energy security in an interview with political analyst and Hvylya editor-in-chief Yuriy Romanenko.
He noted that even in the fourth year of the full-scale war, officials often fail to commission equipment provided by donors due to a lack of bureaucratic mechanisms, arguing that the strategy for protecting the energy system requires a fundamental overhaul.
Ivanov highlighted the dire situation in educational and municipal institutions. While international partners are sending generators en masse, they often turn into mere "furniture" on the ground.
"Donors hand over generators. In many cities, they haven't even been started; they just stand there... And the donor asks: 'Why are we sending a generator if you don't turn it on?'" the volunteer said.
He attributes this effectively to sabotage, driven by officials' fear of taking responsibility for purchasing and writing off fuel.
"There are some unmotivated managers who don't want to take responsibility... Who will provide the heating? They don't want to make the decision to allocate funds for fuel, or find it, or figure out how to write it off. A mechanism needs to be developed for this," Ivanov explained.
Responding to the host's remark that the war has been going on for a long time, the expert confirmed the lack of systemic solutions even now: "It's the fourth year of the full-scale invasion... and they are still thinking about how to do it best."
Ivanov emphasized that the only way to preserve heat and power is to abandon "gigantomania" in favor of dispersed generation.
"We need to diversify risks and create more autonomy for buildings, hospitals, and so on... Is it better to have many streams or just one? This is simple; it is an axiom," he stressed.
In his view, the economic logic of war dictates the need to create thousands of small targets instead of one large object that is easy for the enemy to strike.
"If thermal and electrical generation is distributed thousands or hundreds of times over, it requires significantly more resources to destroy it. It becomes much more expensive for the enemy," the Dobrobat co-founder concluded.