The Cabinet could not legally dismiss Kobolev directly. Therefore, the supervisory board of Naftogaz was disbanded. The Cabinet of Ministers by its order dated April 28 ahead of schedule stopped powers of independent members of the supervisory board of the NAC Bruno Lescois, Ludo van der Heyden, Claire Spottiswood and state representatives on the supervisory board – Natalia Boyko, Yulia Kovaliv and Robert Bensch. According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, from April 30, they were reinstated in their posts, but for no more than six months.
European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) expressed concern termination of the powers of the supervisory board of NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine” with the aim of dismissing Kobolev. “We call on the Ukrainian leadership to ensure that critical management decisions at state-owned enterprises are made in full compliance with the core principles of recognized corporate governance standards,” the statement said.
The government reported that following the results of the meeting of the general meeting of shareholders of Naftogaz, the work of the supervisory board and the board in 2020 was recognized as unsatisfactory. The Cabinet of Ministers noted that the net consolidated loss of the group of companies in 2020 amounted to UAH 19 billion, while the financial plan approved by the government was supposed to receive UAH 11.5 billion of profit.
In “Naftogazi Ukrainy” called the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers “legal manipulation” and return to manual control state-owned companies.
Members of the Supervisory Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine submitted applications on early termination of their powers. They are expressed disagreement with an assessment by the Cabinet of Ministers of the group’s work in 2020 and refused government proposals work until the election of a new composition, since the appointment of Vitrenko created a conflict of interest.
– .
