Business
A candidate can do well in interviews and tests and still be judged politically impossible to appoint because of who he is, not how he performed. Top posts in state enterprises are filled under political constraints, not just on competence.
When an organisation buys things through many small, unwatched orders, inflated prices and fake deliveries can drain huge sums without anyone noticing. Kneepads that cost little in a shop were bought for hundreds of times more, and fuel oil paid for but never delivered cost one plant a fortune every month. The loss is not one big heist but countless ordinary-looking invoices.
A large public utility can become a food source for several organised criminal groups at once, each working a different part of the operation, from supplies to machinery. Uncovering them took a dedicated private investigation, which found at least four separate cartels.
Theft from a state company can be systemic and politically supported, so exposure does not bring punishment. A manager caught plundering his plant was still on paid leave years later, drawing a full salary.
If the authorities who should act on crime don't, the head of an organisation may have to run his own investigation. That pulls an executive into a world of spies, safe houses, bodyguards and bulletproof vests that is far from his training and puts his safety at risk.
A failing utility usually suffers from several breakdowns at once: neglected equipment, ageing plants, a shrinking pool of skilled staff, and corruption on top. Each makes the others harder to fix, so the system keeps weakening even when one problem is tackled.
A state company boss answers to ministers who often pull in conflicting directions, so the formal title carries far less power than it seems. On top of that come political interference, absurd regulations, customers who don't pay, and strikes, all outside his control.
Someone who confronts entrenched theft should expect counterattacks: unfounded accusations, wildcat strikes, deliberate sabotage, even attempts on his life. The resistance grows as the threat to the people profiting grows.
Even when a new solution is cheaper and faster, the industry built around the old one fights it. Renewable energy is the quickest, cheapest way out of a power crisis, yet those tied to coal oppose it fiercely.
A leader who serves at the top of the state but owes nothing to the ruling party is free to state uncomfortable facts publicly. People whose careers depend on that party are not.