Winners of the “Women of Ukrainian Energy 2020” Competition

This year, the annual competition "Women of Ukrainian Energy," organized by the Women's Energy Club of Ukraine, was held for the second time. The purpose of the competition is to recognize the contribution of women to the development of the energy sector of Ukraine, to support and motivate them to achieve further progress in the energy sector and related industries.

This year, call for the competition was available from October 12 to November 6. In total, the team received 146 applications in 8 nominations: Company of the Year, Manager, Politician, Employee, Lawyer, Volunteer, Journalist, Educator. You could nominate yourself, your colleague or your organization.

The jury included:

-          Anna Dovgopol, Gender Democracy programme coordinator with Heinrich Boell Foundation, Kyiv Office — Ukraine;

-          Svitlana Holikova, Member of the Board of WECU, works in the Energy Security Project, USAID Ukraine;

-          Oleksiy Riabchyn, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

“The announcement of the second competition Women of the Ukrainian Energy Sector was met with much more attention than last year. The number and quality of the applications we received made the jury’s work very difficult yet pleasant at the same time. Personally, I am very happy to see that every year, the number of women who are not afraid to apply for the competition or nominate their colleagues is constantly growing. I hope that in a few years, the choice will be as difficult as the Oscars, since there is an enormous number of women professionals in the energy sector,” says WECU President Valentyna Beliakova.

The award ceremony took place on November 19 during the II annual conference "Energy without Gender.” Take a look at this year's list of winners:

Company of the Year — SE Market Operator (“Operator Rynku”)

The company organizes purchase and sales of electricity on the day-ahead and intraday electricity market and helps to ensure the balance between the demand and supply on the electricity market. Women account for 60% of staff in the company, with the employer ensuring equal working conditions and pay as well as family-friendly policies. As a gender-balanced enterprise, Market Operator demonstrates that women can be well versed in the issues of energy.

Lawyer — Olha Savchenko, partner, Head of Energy Law Practice with TOV Altelo Legal Firm

She has been working in the sector of renewable energy in Ukraine since 2012. She joined the team of Altelo Law Firm in 2015, heading the energy law practice, and in March 2020, she became a partner. Since July 2020, Olha has been chairing the legal committee of the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine, where she and her team are actively working to improve energy regulations, provide explanations to RES market participants, and conduct specialized activities.

Employee — Ima Khrenova-Shymkina, Deputy Director, Energy Efficiency Reforms Project, GIZ

With Ima’s support, the research Gender and Career Profile in Energy Efficiency was launched. As part of GIZ, she always supports gender initiatives of other organizations, including the WECU, cares about women’s visibility and promotes other women in the sector. Ima always welcomes opportunities to learn and grow.

Manager — Valentyna Beliakova, Regional Director of TIU Canada and President of the Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine

Valentyna initiated the creation of the WECU. As a manager, she is always resilient in her work and is not afraid to tackle the most difficult problems.

Journalist — Larysa Oksenchuk, journalist of the Ukrainian Energy outlet

Larysa works as a newsfeed journalist, conducts interviews with energy experts, writes analytical materials and covers the work of round tables, conferences, etc. She regularly tries to convey useful and necessary information to her readers in a simple way and to help the consumers of energy services receive available, truthful information.

Volunteer — Yulia Mamchych, Gender Policy and Equality Manager, FemEnergy Project Manager, Intern at the Rivne NPP Security Analysis Service

Julia encourages women to choose STEM majors and guides young people to study and develop in STEM subjects. She conducts lectures and seminars for school students of different cities of Ukraine, implements projects from the ground up to implementation, which often involves supervision in various fields. She continuously improves and enhances her skills and competencies in gender equality.

Politician — Olha Buslavets, temporary acting Minister of Energy of Ukraine

Olha is the first woman to head the Ministry of Energy. Together with the Prime Minister, she reached a compromise with investors in "green" energy, brought mines out of operation and returned miners to work during the crisis that arose in the summer of 2020, completed the development of the Coal Reform Concept, improved rules in the electricity market. She also actively develops international partnership and advocates the development of new technologies in energy, taking care of measures for the implementation of the European "green" deal.

Educator — Liubov Shumska, director of Poltava Oil and Gas Vocational School under the National University “Yuri Kondratiuk Poltava Polytechnic”

In her work, Liubov always contributes to gender equality both at the management level and among students. She focuses greatly on national and patriotic education, gender policies and inclusive education. She tries to engage girls to STEM specialities in the oil and gas sector, which is illustrated by the increased number of girls interested in studying in the school where Liubov is the director. Currently, 2/3 of the management positions in the vocational school are held by women.

The “Women of Ukrainian Energy 2020” competition has been held with the support of Heinrich Boell Foundation, Kyiv Office — Ukraine.