Leading a company in the energy sector is challenging in any context, but doing so during wartime brings an entirely different set of obstacles.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has severely impacted the energy infrastructure – power stations have been occupied, critical assets have been destroyed by missile and drone attacks, and the labor market crisis has further complicated operations. Decision-making in such an environment requires not only technical expertise but also resilience, adaptability and strategic thinking.
I became CEO of Elementum Energy just one month before the full-scale invasion. Suddenly, our priorities shifted from long-term growth to immediate survival. We had to make urgent decisions about evacuating staff, protecting critical data and securing assets. One of our power stations fell under occupation for nearly a year.
Our team had to relocate, our infrastructure suffered massive damage and we had to rethink how to keep operations running under extreme uncertainty.
Perhaps the hardest decision we faced was whether to move forward with a wind farm project that had been started before the war. It took us six months to redesign our entire construction model, find new contractors, secure board approval and push forward with commissioning the project – all while missiles were flying overhead.
Another major shift came when we transitioned from state-guaranteed pricing mechanisms to selling renewable energy on the open market, something unprecedented in Ukraine’s renewables sector. We had to build new commercial functions from scratch, navigating a financial landscape that had been thrown into chaos.
Joining a male-dominated industry
When I joined the energy sector in September 2020 as CFO of Elementum Energy, I was stepping into an entirely new world. My career had been built in other commodities – agriculture, food processing, logistics and banking.
I was brought into the company to establish efficient financial processes, manage cash flows and build relationships with financial institutions to support growth. But energy was a different battlefield altogether.
Historically, Ukraine’s energy sector has been dominated by large, state-owned, Soviet-era enterprises, with limited private investment until the past decade. This meant that not only was the industry overwhelmingly male-dominated, but it was also led by engineers and executives who had spent their careers in large industrial plants, often with deep connections to political institutions.
My advice to young women aspiring to join the energy sector is simple: focus on your core strengths.
I faced a double challenge: being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry and coming in with no prior experience in energy.
The skepticism was immediate – what could someone without a technical background possibly contribute? Would I even know the difference between alternating current and direct current, let alone be able to lead a company in this field? The doubts weren’t just external; they were ingrained in the industry’s culture.
Yet today, two of the top three largest renewable energy producers in Ukraine are led by women, including Elementum Energy. While technical roles in the sector remain male-heavy, we see an increasing number of women stepping into finance, legal, compliance, environmental health and safety, business development and leadership roles.
The value of diversity
In our company, women make up 50 percent of top management and over 40 percent of the total workforce.
The shift hasn’t come easily. Women in leadership often have to navigate an environment that values resilience and responsibility but sometimes lacks openness to innovation, adaptability and efficient communication – areas where women can bring significant value.
My advice to young women aspiring to join the energy sector is simple: focus on your core strengths. You don’t need to be an engineer to lead an energy company. Identify what you excel at – be it finance, strategy or operations – and complement it with strong leadership and decision-making skills. Understand the dynamics of the sector, but also bring in perspectives from other industries.
The best leaders aren’t those who know everything but those who can build diverse teams and create a culture of collaboration and adaptability.
The best leaders aren’t those who know everything but those who can build diverse teams and create a culture of collaboration and adaptability.
Through all of this, the value of diverse leadership became even more evident. I hesitate to attribute certain leadership qualities strictly to women, but I strongly believe that diversity in leadership leads to better decision-making.
Women on our team have contributed significantly to our adaptability, communication culture and willingness to innovate. They excel at balancing different perspectives and fostering teamwork – skills that are essential in crisis conditions.
Positive goals and change
We are working in two directions. First, we keep everybody connected and aligned with the company’s goals. We’ve strengthened our practices of setting targets and KPIs, built comprehensive processes for feedback and assessments, and ensured more communication and exchange between all employees regarding company strategy.
This allows us to have a higher involvement of employees in the decision-making and execution processes, uniting them around our business needs in a highly challenging environment. Our organizational structure is as flat as possible and we are strong advocates of an open-door culture – this requires more effort to maintain, but it fosters a sense of ownership and impact for employees at all levels.
From another angle, stress levels are abnormal: uncertainty, physical insecurity, economic turbulence and even basic deficits like a lack of good sleep after night attacks make people less stable and more volatile. To counter this, we’ve invested in team gatherings, joint activities, flexible working schedules and longer vacations.
War has tested us in ways we never anticipated, but it has also proven that diversity, adaptability and strong leadership can drive progress even in the most challenging times.
Positive goals and good changes also help to keep morale high, so we regularly implement different initiatives such as promotions, surveys, training and even simple things like a new, big, inspiring office, Friday pizzas and regular one-on-one meetings about anything but work tasks.
The energy sector is evolving rapidly and as it does, the need for resilient, forward-thinking leadership will only grow. War has tested us in ways we never anticipated, but it has also proven that diversity, adaptability and strong leadership can drive progress even in the most challenging times.
For women looking to build a career in energy, now is the time to step in – not despite the challenges but because of them.
