Kolomoyskyi Addresses Accusations of Sabotaging Ukrnafta Board Meeting

The meeting of the Ukrnafta supervisory board scheduled for June 22 did not take place because of the absence of a quorum. Representatives of minority shareholders as well as Petro Stoliar, a board member from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, did not participate in the meeting, the press service of Naftogaz of Ukraine reports. 50%+1 of Ukrnafta shares are owned by Naftogaz, and about 42% by Privat, a group of companies of Ihor Kolomoyskyi.

Without a prior meeting of the supervisory board it is impossible to hold the general meeting of shareholders scheduled for July 7. Also, it is impossible to agree on the conditions of independent expert analysis regarding the receivables and payables for 2015 that resulted from the decisions of previous Ukrnafta managers. This prolongs the uncertainty regarding the further fate of Ukrnafta and payment of its considerable debts to the state budget — over ₴10.4 billion as of January 1, 2016.

Another item on the agenda of the meeting was considering the plan of pretrial rehabilitation proposed by Ukrnafta managers with amendments from Naftogaz. The plan seeks to clarify issues regarding the biggest oil company in Ukraine and remove the legal contradictions that have made attracting foreign investment, modernization of production, and development of the company impossible in the past 10 years.

In a comment to Ukrayinska Pravda, Ihor Kolomoyskyi explained why the representatives of minority shareholders did not turn up for the scheduled board meeting: "We have warned Naftogaz that we will not be taking part in the meeting, as this was the advice of the lawyers who are currently working with us on our case in Stockholm [Arbitration Court]. Several items that were on the agenda of the board meeting might weaken our position in court." The minority shareholders of Ukrnafta have previously sued the state of Ukraine for $4.674 billion.

Source: Oleh Shankovskyi, Ukrayinska Pravda; Ekonomichna Pravda