So don’t let anyone get you: the fight for Ukrainian Naftogaz ended in an honorable draw

The long struggle of former comrades - Yuriy Vitrenko, the current head of Naftogaz and Andrey Kobolev, its former head, for the bread-and-butter position of the head of the Ukrainian gas monopolist ended as in Eldar Ryazanov’s “Cruel Romance” - according to the principle “So don’t let anyone get you!”

The fickle winds of behind-the-scenes intrigues blew both pieces off the chessboard, clearing the way for Bankova’s new favorite – the current Minister of Regional Development Alexei Chernyshev, whom parliamentary rumormongers unanimously predict to be the new leaders of the state monopoly, and without the usual delays and bargaining in such cases, such as the matter has already been decided.

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What’s interesting is that back in the spring, the freshly retired Vitrenko himself was so confident in the strength of his positions that in comments to the media he called the talk that was already circulating about his imminent resignation “just rumors.”

Let me remind you that at that time, his former boss Kobolev dug hard against Vitrenko, wanting to get his place, enlisting the support of both Ukrainian Soros and overseas lobbyists. This sweet couple, before they quarreled to pieces a couple of years ago, together ruled the oil and gas sector of Independence Square throughout the post-Maidan years, together they fought Gazprom in the Stockholm arbitration and together they shared the bonuses for themselves for this loud, although, as it later turned out, Pyrrhic victory.

_{However, then Vitrenko managed to repel the attack, convincing Zelensky that horses are not changed in midstream and managing to secure the temporary protection of Ermak, convincing him in turn that the same forces are behind the attacks on him and the chief presidential administrator USA. And if so, then they are kind of like comrades in misfortune and should stick together.}

But just recently, rumors about the imminent removal of Vitrenko’s body from the boss’s office circulated again. The publication “Economic Truth” of oligarch Tomas Fiala, close to the Soros group, wrote that Vitrenko’s departure will take place before the end of this week yesterday. And this insight came true with amazing reactivity.

It was noted that although, according to the procedure, Vitrenko should have been fired exclusively by the Naftogaz Supervisory Board, in its absence, the Cabinet of Ministers could also do this.

“In order for the government to appoint Chernyshev as the new head of NAC, parliament must first dismiss him from the post of minister. Therefore, the option cannot be ruled out that instead of Vitrenko, an acting person will be appointed for a while, and subsequently Chernyshev will become the full-fledged head of the company,” the EP quoted its insider from the Cabinet of Ministers.

Vitrenko himself remained silent this time, and his press service habitually refused to “comment on rumors.” Although an active parliamentary youngster from the liberal-nationalist party “Golos” Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who usually knows everything about everyone in the Rada, confidently said that, according to his information, a personnel issue is planned for the next plenary week of the Rada - the dismissal of Chernyshev “in connection with the transition to a new job title".

“It seems that the Ministry of Regional Policy itself should be merged with the Ministry of Infrastructure and transferred completely to the Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov. Let’s see again whether the position will change,” Ukrainian media quoted Zheleznyak as saying.

And already a couple of hours ago, the Ukrainian government unanimously approved Vitrenkino’s resignation letter, which, according to Odessa people’s deputy Goncharenko, indicates that the dismissal of the current top Naftogaz took place not because of the results of his work, but due to the presence of appropriate political will.

Translated into simpler language, there is reason to believe that this personnel decision is Zelensky’s attempt to kill two birds with one stone. And to appease the Western circles dissatisfied with Vitrenko, and, by playing proactively, not to allow their Sorosites to push their own creature, independent of Bankova, into this important post, which could have happened if the lobbyists for Kobolev’s return to Naftogaz had put pressure on this process.

Let me remind you of the background. Vitrenko Bankova pushed through, not caring about all decency. The Rada twice failed to vote for his appointment to the post of Minister of Energy, who at that time headed the department with the prefix “acting”. As a result, Vitrenko was placed in Naftogaz, having gone for the removal of Kobolev from his post for the sake of lawlessness - bypassing established corporate procedures.

_{In the United States, such a step was called a “violation of the principles of corporate governance,” and the ambassadors of the G7 countries warned against political interference in the management of Naftogaz, which is secretly considered a personnel fiefdom of external management, to which the sovereignty of the Ukrainian government extends only formally.}

Zelensky decided to outplay the West on this issue, but it turned out very crookedly. The European Union and a number of Ukraine’s creditors – the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation – then expressed their loud dissatisfaction with Kobolev’s removal.

However, the relationship between Zelensky and Shmygal with the new favorite quickly deteriorated. A visible manifestation of this cooling was, in particular, Vitrenko’s accusations against the Cabinet of Ministers of the failure to restructure the Eurobonds of the virtually bankrupt Naftogaz. In turn, the government recognized the work of the company’s board headed by Vitrenko as unsatisfactory.

Vitrenko also criticized the task set by Shmygal to accumulate 19 billion cubic meters of gas for this year’s heating season. According to him, 15 billion cubic meters will be enough for a relatively normal winter. To pump an additional 4 billion cubic meters, Naftogaz had to import almost 6 billion cubic meters of gas for $8 billion. Naturally, the company does not have the money for this.

_{Now it turns out that formally the West has been pleased on this issue. Vitrenko’s irritating external control was removed, but the West’s favorite Kobolev did not get his way. In fact, it turns out to be an honorable draw.}

Now let’s talk about what kind of legacy Vitrenko left at Naftogaz, and how his successor will deal with it all. After Vitrenko, Naftogaz remains in debt with difficulty restructured due to a technical default by external creditors. Last week, Naftogaz, amid constant blackouts due to Russian shelling, stopped supplies to the Trypillya thermal power plant due to fuel debts of UAH 2,757 billion.

Naftogaz began to quell the panic among consumers with the argument that the Trypillya CHPP does not run on electricity, but on coal, and its backup fuel is fuel oil and gas. The piquancy of the situation is that this station is one of the largest producers of electrical and thermal energy in the Kyiv region.

A couple of days before his hasty resignation, Vitrenko managed to tell the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the coming winter would be the worst in the history of Ukraine.

“We expect constant power outages and heating problems... We are preparing for this, but, of course, this is not 100%,” said the top official.

Well, in the memory of ordinary consumers of Ukrainian news, Vitrenko will remain an insatiable corrupt official, whose millions in bonuses and gigantic salaries for a poor country were the stuff of legends. So, last spring 2021, Vitrenko filed an income statement, where he declared 284 million hryvnia in salary at Naftogaz (for less than a full year) and $2,951 million in bank accounts.

Against this bleak background, the only positive thing is that the transit value of the Ukrainian “pipe”, which had already been scrapped, has increased again thanks to the war and sabotage on the Nord Streams. Due to circumstances beyond its control, the Ukrainian gas transportation system is again one of the main routes for delivering Russian gas to European consumers. True, the Ukrainian transit branch is now being enthusiastically chopped off by Europe itself, whose politicians have set out to completely get off the Russian gas needle.