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Yuri Vitrenko. Photo “Naftogaz”
Yuri Vitrenko, CEO of the company, the second person in the NAC, leaves Naftogaz.
Until last summer, he was considered the closest associate of the company’s boss, Andrei Kobolev, who often acted as an independent manager, for example, by signing a transit contract with Gazprom in December 2019.
With Kobolev and Vitrenko, the post-Maidan reforms are closely related, which has painfully hit people’s pockets. They headed “Naftogaz” after the increase in heating rates began to receive super profits. And Yuri and Andrey were declared super efficient managers for this reason.
This image was strengthened after the West decided to support Ukraine in the fight against Russia and allowed Kiev to win the gas arbitration in Stockholm. He just sued the “Naftogaz” team. What caused one of the major scandals with Kobolev and Vitrenko is their multi-million dollar award for arbitration victory. That both were immediately taken abroad.
It is interesting that after Vladimir Zelensky came to power, both top managers, despite a negative train, did not disappear from the state company. Both were even considered the prime minister. However, it did not grow together.
But this spring, without competition, Andrei Kobolev renewed a contract for the NAC leadership. But Yuri Vitrenko apparently fell out of the cage. And he blamed this on two factors: the reluctance of the new government to “reject Russia’s aggression”, as well as the intrigue of its still superior: Kobolev.
“Strana” quotes Vitrenko’s claims, which he has been saving for a long time, but while working for the NAC, he has not voiced it to anyone.
Russian aggression is to blame
Today, Yuri Vitrenko released a subsequent multi-page confession about why he was fired, and not Naftogaz boss Andrei Kobolev.
“Friends! I have just been formally warned that my position was being cut, and this means that in two months I will be fired from Naftogaz. As I constantly have to fight wrong information and, with the superior enemy forces, I will have to resort to radicals openness and expose your view of the situation here, “said one of the NAC leaders before his story.
First, Vitrenko “clarified” why they want to fire him.
“The most logical explanation for which I am fired is that the fight against Russian aggression is not a priority now, in particular the effective protection of Ukraine’s interests in relations with Gazprom. The fight against corruption, in particular its causes in the gas sector, it is not a priority either, “he said. official.
Additionally, Vitrenko lists victories in the field of litigation with Gazprom, for which he received a multi-million dollar award. He recalled the traffic contract signed in winter with the principle of “download or pay”, for which the credit was also attributed. Although it is obvious that the United States helped more here, which, on the eve of the signing, imposed sanctions on the Nord Stream-2 builders and postponed the term for the gas pipeline by a year and a half.
Vitrenko draws a conclusion from all this, of course, his exuberant activities did not please Russia and its “trading partners” in Ukraine.
“The lack of political will to combat Russian aggression,” the Naftogaz manager puts the reasons for his dismissal more briefly.
In the second part of his essay, Yuri Vitrenko talks about the head of the NAC, Andrei Kobolev, with whom the Cabinet of Ministers signed a new contract. And that, therefore, it remains.
Due to the fact that Kobolev is not being eliminated, Vitrenko concludes that the Naftogaz boss is not a reformer and is not fighting with Gazprom. Although he tried to make such an impression. Anyway, it is Kobolev who fired Vitrenko.
“The Cabinet of Ministers again extended the contract with Kobolev without competition for four years. And now Kobolev is really firing me,” said Naftogaz’s executive director, forgetting that he had just called Russian aggression the reason for his departure.
Vitrenko claims Kobolev
Overall, the statements that power is doubling under Russia were only a seed. Knowing precisely that the layoffs could not be avoided, Yuri Vitrenko decided to express everything she thinks about her boss and long-term associate Andrei Kobolev.
The media talked about their conflict in the summer of 2019. However, now for the first time it was at the open level.
Vitrenko immediately states that Kobolev “betrayed and switched sides” when he again became the head of Naftogaz under Zelensky (we note that Vitrenko himself did not resign).
“He is a parasite of the achievements of others. He says what he and his clients want to know about him, although he is not going to do it.”
At the same time, he is trying to hide the uncomfortable truth and manipulate data, cracking down on objectionable ones, justifying this by the need to defend himself “from the enemies”, – he gives Kobolev Vitrenko an unflattering description.
“Kobolev’s image is clothing from the story of the naked king,” says the manager.
Vitrenko said that the decision to reduce it was made de facto by Kobolev, although de jure it was the Supervisory Board: “My dismissal is Kobolev’s reaction to the uncomfortable truth, in which he sees a threat to his chair.”
Vitrenko begins the awkward truth from the moment Kobolev was appointed to the NAC.
“In 2014, Yatsenyuk, under the influence of Martynenko and Yeremeyev (incidentally, he was Firtash’s business partner), named Kobolev without competition as a compromise between the public request after the Revolution of Dignity for underdeveloped officials and the desire to have a politically convenient executor, “explains Kobolev’s appearance on the Vitrenko gas horizon.
At the same time, the head of Naftogaz himself, in an interview with Yanina Sokolova, said that he was chosen in the contest and that his then minister Pivovarsky recommended him. “But the problem is that there was no competition, and Pivovarsky was working for Yeremeyev at the time, and became minister only in the second Yatsenyuk government (that is, not in March 2014),” Vitrenko finds a contradiction.
Kobolev’s second failure, according to Vitrenko, was the collapse of negotiations with Gazprom in 2014 in Moscow.
Today, the top manager explains the success of the NAC chief by the fact that “there is an influential security politician Avakov and an influential businessman Kolomoisky who likes Kobolev.
And there is Zelensky that has to balance. Given these facts, a logical explanation emerges of who needs Kobolev at the head of Naftogaz. “
Vitrenko also claims that Naftogaz’s record earnings after the Maidan are not Kobolev’s credit. However, this was already known: money flowed into the NAC river after the explosive increase in rates under Yatsenyuk. But Vitrenko has a different version.
“Let’s look at Naftogaz’s record earnings in 2019. If we subtract the result (UAH 68.4 billion) in the direction (gas transit) of our team at Naftogaz, which I am addressing directly, and not Kobolev, otherwise Naftogaz has a big loss (- UAH 5.1 billion) In our recovery team’s latest high-profile victory, $ 2.9 billion and the conclusion of a new transit contract, Kobolev was generally suspended from negotiations with Gazprom and the firm of agreements, “said the official.
“He was a member of a team in which I was a leader. It is important that, despite the fact that he was formally my boss, he determined more the management culture in these teams, and he adjusted,” explains the parasitic essence. “Kobolev Vitrenko.
He also cited concrete examples of his boss’s failure, even before Naftogaz’s leadership. In fact, Vitrenko accused Kobolev of the fact that Ukraine under Tymoshenko signed a contract with Gazprom, for which he later went to prison.
“In 2009 Dubin and Didenko, then Naftogaz leaders, counted on Kobolev in the 2009 talks.
He, as advisor to the chairman of the board, had to verify compliance with the wording of the “accept or pay” contract proposed by Gazprom to European standards. We all know well how it ended: Gazprom tricked Naftogaz into becoming a problem for Ukraine worth more than $ 80 billion, which our team solved with big problems in Stockholm arbitration.
And we were all very lucky that the arbitration sided with us. Next time, I might not be so lucky. But this problem could not have existed at all if Kobolev had done his job conscientiously, showing that Gazprom’s proposals did not meet European standards, even using the examples available on the internet, and then Dubin and Didenko would have negotiated with Gazprom and, if necessary, convinced Tymoshenko to raise this issue in the negotiations with Putin, “said Vitrenko.
Kobolev’s most modern failure is a record drop in gas production in Ukraine. “In production, a record decline in two decades, despite increasing investment and costs,” Vitrenko said.
The reason is that “Kobolev has no oil and gas education or business education. He has no experience in operational activities: production, transportation, trade, oil and gas supply.”
Vitrenko and Kobolev conflict
The fact that Yuri Vitrenko and Andrei Kobolev are in a state of slow war was revealed in late July.
Neftegaz’s market research department released a report in which Kobolev appears to be the main culprit for the failure of the company’s reforms. This department was directly subordinate to Yuri Vitrenko.
The report indicated that the transformation of Neftegaz has not been carried out since 2017. And already next year it threatens the collapse of the monopolist, when the NAC runs out of revenue from Russian transit to Europe.
Kobolev, on the other hand, accused the report of interfering in the work of formally independent departments and processes. The document quoted Vitrenko’s words about desecrating the company’s main goal: transformation in the face of the challenges of 2020. The report also contains Kobolev’s answer: he knows nothing about such goals, and his main goal was recovery NAC financial statement.
What, in fact, happened after a single “reform”: a multiple increase in tariffs.
Yuri Vitrenko told the media that he did not push for the report, but that he was ready to subscribe to every word. And after a short time, the conflict was recognized by Andrei Kobolev.
“The conflict – Ed.) started last year and is now actively developing, but I wouldn’t call it personal, “said the NAC chief. At the same time, he did not disclose the details of the dispute, referring to the fact that he did not want to take the trash out of the cabin”. It is not a personal conflict, “said Kobolev.
However, judging from what Yury Vitrenko wrote earlier, the conflict is very likely to be truly personal.
Andrei Kobolev himself has not yet commented on disagreements with his former partner.
“Eliminated by Kolomoisky”. Expert opinions on Vitrenko Care
“Kobolev and Vitrenko have had a conflict for more than two years, both personal and professional,” says Strana, co-founder of the Energy Strategies Fund. Dmitry Marunich.
“Vitrenko has already written several times about his resignation. And after the Dutch Otto Waterlander was appointed Naftogaz CEO, Vitrenko’s resignation was already decided. In fact, the Waterlander was appointed to his position. Obviously, the last straw for Vitrenko himself became Kobolev’s reelection.
In fact, the length of the contract with him was far from obvious. And Vitrenko, if the Queen “left”, had every opportunity to take her chair. What he obviously counted on. Those who worked at Naftogaz and know the “indoor kitchen” are aware that Kobolev has always been a kind of “junior partner”. That is, despite the higher position, Vitrenko was considered by many to be more advanced, smarter, etc.
In other words, this competitive moment has always been present. But obviously Vitrenko did not have such strong sponsors, including foreigners like Kobolev. Vitrenko bet on Kolomoisky, and in the last year he worked for him. This bet simply did not play. I think Vitrenko will receive a new appointment (in particular, for the Ukrobronprom system, where he was a member of the Supervisory Board at some point), or enter a private business. “
“Vitrenko’s dismissal is 100% due to Kolomoisky. Vitrenko has recently hoped to work with Kolomoisky, possibly counting on increasing his influence on Zelensky. As we see, this did not happen,” said the analyst at the Institute for Strategic Studies. Yuri Korolchuk.
“Furthermore, Kolomoisky and his people are actively disposing of him. Furthermore, in Naftogaz, which has long been controlled by European gas merchants, service companies and others, confidence in Vitrenko has declined markedly. As, in fact , in Kobolev. But they saved Kobolev. ” relationships in the United States. Although, in fact, they left a very narrow area of influence. And they completely got rid of Vitrenko. As you can see, the Naftogaz “curators” decided to put their people in positions, as evidenced in particular by the appointment of Waterlander.
Overall, this picture, co-created by Kobolev and Vitrenko, of successful super managers with millions of salaries and bonuses, I think is not entirely true. It is possible that all these bonds are a kind of legalized corruption, and they simply transferred this money along the chain.
And in the management plan there are no special achievements. Complete failure in gas production, there are questions about the transit. Naftogaz continues to be profitable through subsidies, that is, these are actually state subsidies to the company. And after disaggregation, the company will generally have a shell: the royal powers and money will be transferred to other structures. In this situation, I’m interested not so much why Vitrenko left, but why Kobolev remains. As for Vitrenko, I think he won’t be out of a job. There are also Koomoisky structures, the same Ukrnafta, Ukrtatnafta, Kremenchutsk Oil Refinery.
What is known about Yuri Vitrenko
Yuri Vitrenko is the son of the famous politician Natalya Vitrenko. But in fact, his father received more help from his father, also Yuri Vitrenko, a well-known economist and energy engineer who oversaw gas exploration.
He headed the department in the government of Yulia Tymoshenko and was deputy economy minister in Mykola Azarov’s Cabinet of Ministers. By the way, after the parents’ divorce, Yuri Yurievich Vitrenko lived with her father.
Vitrenko worked at Naftogaz for a long time, but only after Maidan did he gain an influential position there.
One of the main scandals is the aforementioned award, which Vitrenko and Kobolev received after winning the Stockholm arbitration.
The fact is that under Poroshenko Vitrenko he prescribed himself a literally golden contract, declaring that he was entitled to unlimited bonuses. On this, he and Kobolev were fired for winning the arbitration. It was about 1% of the amount won: $ 45 million.
Gazprom, after being defeated in court, has still not managed to pay anything, but Vitrenko in 2018 already received the first part of the award: $ 6 million. And soon he sent from his Oschadbank accounts to the account of his wife Irina Shafranova-Vitrenko in Liechtenstein 1 million 900 thousand euros and 2 million 900 thousand US dollars. That is, in fact, he took all this amount out of the country.
The amount that, we repeat, was awarded to him not by Gazprom’s billions, but in advance by the budget of a state-owned company, which “increased” the excruciating utility rates for Ukrainians.
He was supposed to receive the second part of the award after Gazprom transferred the aforementioned $ 2.9 billion to Ukraine accounts, which happened in the last days of 2019.
The money came, but the prize did not happen: after a salary scandal in the Cabinet of Ministers, Zelensky ordered that the Naftogaz “Chefs” be “buttoned”.
Andrei Kobolev was not particularly enthusiastic, but was not very outraged: in the second half of March the contact with Naftogaz ended, who wanted to extend (which finally happened).
Vitrenko decided to go to court. February 13, he filed a lawsuit in the Kiev Pechersk court.
“I demand that Naftogaz fulfill his obligations under the employment contract: salary payments. This bonus is part of the salary under Ukrainian law, it is written in my employment contract and therefore should have been automatically paid on December 30 of 2019, “he explained his position.
At the moment, the fate of the rest of the award is unknown. But the situation is charming: the poorer top manager will by no means knock out a billionaire award from a poor country for what he did not do, instead hiring western law firms that were paid from the state company’s budget.
