Naftogaz's ex-head to challenge his dismissal

Former Chairman of the Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine and Chief Executive Officer Andriy Kobolyev says he will challenge his recent dismissal.

This has been reported by the press service of Naftogaz, citing Kobolyev's statement.

"He said that, despite the manipulative nature of yesterday's personnel decisions by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, they came into force," the statement said. "Andriy Volodymyrovych [Kobolyev] plans to appeal against his dismissal, but stressed that these processes do not affect the work of the Group."

Read alsoCabinet sacks Naftogaz chief KobolyevDuring his last meeting with the company's personnel, Kobolyev asked the Board and the directors of divisions and branches of the Naftogaz Group to preserve high standards of work as much as possible and continue the projects and initiatives that had been launched.

"The main thing I ask of you is to maintain the dynamics of work that we had in the past year and to implement the key decisions that were made to ensure the development of production, retail business and other strategic areas of the Naftogaz Group. It is important that a team is preserved as much as possible, which is able to continue working and implementing everything that was planned," the press service quoted Kobolyev as saying.

Naftogaz's ex-head said that the day before he had signed his last decision as chairman of the board. It concerned seismic exploration on the Black Sea shelf.

Kobolyev also assured he was not going to leave the country and would remain in Ukraine.

Background

• On April 28, 2021, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers terminated the powers of members of the Supervisory Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, as well as Chairman of the Board Andriy Kobolyev, while appointing Yuriy Vitrenko to that position.
• The move followed consideration of the company's annual report for 2020. Last year, Naftogaz saw UAH 19 billion (US$683.7 million) in net losses, with the profit target set at UAH 11.5 billion (US$413.8 million).
• Following the general meeting of shareholders, the performance of the Supervisory Board and the Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine in 2020 was recognized as unsatisfactory.
• In turn, Naftogaz said the decision was a legal manipulation and a violation of the basic principles of corporate governance.
• On April 29, 2021, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price commented on the recent reshuffles at Naftogaz.