Naftogaz CEO comments on progress in corporate governance reform

That’s according to Board Chairman Oleksiy Chernyshov, who spoke with Radio Svoboda.

Commenting on putting on the Supervisory Board an additional, seventh member, which was part of the conditions the U.S. administration set before the Ukrainian authorities, the high-ranking official noted that this will happen "in the near future."

"Today, in Ukraine, Naftogaz is a model for the implementation of this reform. Early this year, the Supervisory Board was elected, which consists of four independent directors, highly-acclaimed international professionals in the oil and gas industry. I am glad that they joined our team. There are also three representatives from the state, two of whom have already been appointed, and we are awaiting the appointment of a third one. There is no problem in this regard," Chernyshov said.

The head of the board noted that the process had started even before U.S. officials handed over to the Ukrainian government the list of priority reforms for Ukraine.

"I believe that in the process there are only technical issues regarding the search and selection of candidates. Therefore, we were engaged in this before that really letter you mentioned emerged. This is not about any particular problems. I am sure that this will be resolved in the near future (…). I would like it to happen within three months," he concluded, noting that the EU gave "a very high assessment of the results of the introduction of corporate governance reform in Naftogaz Group."

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on February 10, Anthony Marino, a specialist in exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons, was elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Naftogaz of Ukraine.