Ukrnafta to pay dividends to state by end of 2015, new CEO says

Ukraine’s biggest oil producer and gasoline retailer Ukrnfata (UNAF UK) is going to pay by the end of this week the company’s 2014 dividends to the government, newly appointed CEO Mark Rollins reported on Sept. 28, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The dividends due to the state for the years 2011-2013 will be repaid by the end of 2015.

Ukrnafta’s supervisory board approved an employment contract with Rollins on Sept. 28, as reported by state enterprise Naftogaz, which operates the government’s 50%+1 stake in Ukrnafta. The bonuses of the new CEO will depend on timely dividend payments to the state, according to the chairman of Ukrnafta’s supervisory board Andriy Kobolev, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

As decided by the July 22 shareholder meeting, Ukrnafta has to pay UAH 1.26 bln dividends from its 2014 profit, out of which the government is eligible to get UAH 0.63 bln. The payment should be made by Oct. 3, 2015. The dividends owed to the state from Ukrnafta’s profit for 2011-2013 amount to UAH 1.78 bln.

Alexander Paraschiy: The problem of Ukrnafta’s dividend payments looks like it’s being resolved. But the new CEO will have to cope with other problems that exist between Ukrnafta’s minority shareholders, led by Igor Kolomoisky, and its main shareholder, the Ukrainian government. In particular, the State Fiscal Service claims Ukrnafta has UAH 9.5 bln in tax arrears, as reported by the Ekonomichna Pravda new site. On the other hand, Ukrnafta’s minorities claim that Naftogaz has to compensate them for 10.1 bcm in earlier expropriated natural gas, which they estimated at USD 5 bln.