KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2021) Ukraine's government appointed Yurii Vitrenko as the new chairman of the board of state energy company Naftogaz after terminating the contract with the former CEO.
"Accordingly, from April 28, 2021, the powers of independent members of the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, representatives of the state in the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Kobolev Andrii will be terminated ... It was also decided to elect and appoint Yurii Vitrenko as Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine National Joint-Stock Company from April 29, 2021," the official statement said.
The decision was triggered by the review of the company's performance in 2020. According to the statement, the net consolidated loss of the Naftogaz group of companies was estimated at 19 billion hryvni (about $680 million) as opposed to the predicted profit of 11.5 billion hryvni.
In light of the huge losses, the company's shareholders viewed the work of the supervisory board and the management board as "unsatisfactory." The new chairman will be tasked with "systematically increasing Ukrainian gas production, as well as assisting in the formation of a full and fair gas market in Ukraine."
