KYIV (Reuters) – The new chief executive of Ukraine’s state-run energy firm Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko, said on Friday the company would continue to cooperate with international partners, which expressed concern about changes in the company, one of the country’s biggest.
The sacking of the previous Naftogaz head prompted a warning from Ukraine’s Western backers, which said integrity and transparency in making such appointments were key to maintaining confidence in the country’s commitment to reform.
The European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation in a joint statement on Friday said they are “seriously concerned” about recent events at Naftogaz.
They said the reason of the concern was the suspension of the supervisory board in order to dismiss the incumbent CEO, Andriy Kobolyev.
“We call upon the leadership of Ukraine to ensure that crucial management decisions at state-owned enterprises are taken in full accordance with the basic tenets of recognised corporate governance standards,” they said.
Vitrenko said the concern (of international partners) “is understandable” and that “a number of problems needed to be resolved.”
“It is very important for Naftogaz that there is a full supervisory board, elected in a transparent way, so that society trusts this supervisory board,” he said.
Vitrenko, a senior Naftogaz official in previous years, said the company needed to return to profit after it reported a loss of $684 million in 2020. The loss was the official reason given for the dismissal of former CEO Kobolyev.
The company said this week the 2020 loss reflected lower demand, lower gas prices and provisions for bad debts.
Naftogaz combines gas and oil production facilities, and a gas storage business. It also supplies gas to consumers.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets; Editing by Edmund Blair and Steve Orlofsky)
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