Naftogaz supervisory board reportedly found common ground with government

Members of the supervisory board of Naftogaz (NAFTO)
met with PM Denys Shmyhal and the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak
on May 13 to discuss possible options for the continuation of the board’s
activity, lb.ua reported on May 14. Recall, five (out of six existing) members
of the supervisory board declared on April 30 that they would resign as of May
14. The decision followed a scandalous April 28 AGM
of Naftogaz where the Cabinet decided to 1) dismiss the entire supervisory
board, 2) replace CEO Andriy Kobolev for Yuriy Vitrenko, 3) re-appoint all the
members of supervisory board.

According to lb.ua report, at the May 13 meeting, the
supervisory board members were asked to offer the conditions under which they
would stay at their positions. The next day, they listed such conditions,
including preserving the authority of the five supervisory board members for
one year with immediate firing of the sixth member, Robert Bensh, and preserving
the current composition of the company’s executive board for one year.
Ukraine’s PM had accepted such conditions, lb.ua reported.

Alexander Paraschiy: News that
five Naftogaz supervisory board members would resign as of May 14 appeared in
the same evening on the company’s website. Shortly, it was deleted from the
website, suggesting that both the PM and presidential office found common
ground with the insurgent supervisory board members.

If their conditions have been fully accepted, that would
mean the new CEO Vitrenko will have to work for one year with top managers
appointed under Kobolev. This, as well as the apparent enmity between Vitrenko
and some of supervisory board members, will limit Vitrenko’s ability to
influence the processes in the company. Such potential sources of the conflicts
only add risks for Naftogaz’ stability.