Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has explained the reason for the dismissal of Andriy Kobolyev from the post of Chairman of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine by his failure to ensure the profitability of the state company.
The president said about this at a press conference on the results of his two years in office, an UNIAN correspondent reports.
"Naftogaz should fill the state budget based on its promises and performance plans. Naftogaz– and I am not talking about the losses reported by the media – they're UAH 11 billion (US$401.1 million) short of this year's target they planned for us. As the main shareholder of Naftogaz, the government, made a decision to replace the leadership, and today the task has been set to have no such UAH 11 billion losses," Zelensky said.
"The offices paid for lobbying Naftogaz will be closed, as well as the media and representatives who operate from abroad and lobby for the Naftogaz leadership. There's a lot of money there and all citizens of Ukraine are paying for this. This is a serious problem," the president added.
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- On April 28, 2021, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers suspended the powers of members of the Supervisory Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, apparently to allow shareholders to sack 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.
- The decision is a legal manipulation, Naftogaz claimed in a statement on Wednesday, April 28.
- Along with the dismissal of the Supervisory Board for two days to sack Kobolyev, it is "is a violation of the basic principles of corporate governance of state-owned enterprises," the company's press service said.
- Any decisions on the CEO's appointment or dismissal are reserved to the supervisory board and cannot be delegated, the statement adds.
- On May 1, all members of the Supervisory Board at NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine submitted resignation letters.
- On May 5, members of the Executive Board at NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine publicly addressed the Ukrainian government with an appeal to resolve the situation with the Supervisory Board after the latter's members had filed for resignation amid the shocker sacking of CEO Andriy Kobolyev.
- On May 12, the ambassadors of the Group of Seven (UK, US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan) called on Ukraine government to swiftly address management issues related to NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine.
- On May 19, the government continued cooperation with the members of the Supervisory Board at NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine for one year.