The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has supplemented the preventive measure for the former head of Naftogaz Andrey Kobolev by wearing an electronic bracelet, the bail in the amount of 229.248 million UAH remains in force, the VAKS said.
“VAKS supplemented the main measure of restraint issued by the appellate chamber of VAKS with the need to wear an electronic bracelet,” the court told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Appellate Chamber VAKS partially granted the petition, applying to the former head of the Naftogaz board a preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of 229.248 million hryvnia. Also, the suspect was subject to the following obligations: to come to the detective, prosecutor and court at each request, not to leave Kiev without the permission of the detective, prosecutor or court, to inform the prosecutor, detective or court on change of his place of residence, to refrain from communication with other suspects in the case and witnesses, to deposit passport (passport) for traveling abroad with the appropriate authority.
According to the court ruling, the suspect had to deposit the funds within 5 days from the date of pronouncement of the decision.
On March 7, Kobolev was bailed out in the amount of 96 million 635 thousand UAH, which was not an obligation, since the funds were not received in full and not within the period specified by the court.
On March 8, the prosecutor asked the court to change the preventive measure for Kobolev – to keep him in custody with the alternative of making 365 million UAH, but not 229 million UAH, as it was before.
On January 19, 2023, the SAP and the NABU notified Kobolev of their suspicion of abuse of office in securing the payment of UAH 229 million in bonuses for his victory in the Stockholm arbitration with the Russian Gazprom. According to the investigation, this amount significantly exceeds the normatively determined amounts of such payments (37.48m hryvnyas).
Naftogaz of Ukraine on Friday improved a month-old proposal to restructure Eurobonds it defaulted on last summer, with the main changes affecting bonds maturing in 2022.
According to the presentation on Naftogaz’s website, it is proposed to increase the interest rate on Eurobonds-2022 from the date of approval of the proposal from 7.375% to 7.65% per annum, and also around April 15, together with overdue interest pay 5% of the principal amount of debt.
At the same time, Naftogaz offers to defer the payment of 50% of the principal debt for two years – until July 19, 2024, and the remaining 50% – until July 19, 2025, while in February it proposed to repay the entire issue on July 19, 2024.
As for the postponement of the redemption of Eurobonds-2026, the proposal remained the same: 50% for one year, until November 8, 2027, and another 50% until November 8, 2028.
Payment of interest on Eurobonds-2022 due on January 19, 2023, July 19, 2023, and January 19, 2024 is proposed to be postponed until July 19, 2024. For Eurobonds-2026 from November 8, 2022, May 8, 2023, November 8, 2023 and May 8, 2024 to November 8, 2024.
“Naftogaz wants to reserve the right to both early repayment of the overdue ones and to capitalize them.
Anthony Marino was elected chairman of the supervisory board of Naftogaz of Ukraine at a meeting on Friday, Alexei Chernyshov, head of the company’s board, said on Facebook.
“Just now at a meeting of Naftogaz’s supervisory board, its chairman was elected. I salute Anthony Marino on his election!”, – wrote the head of NAC.
“Anthony (USA/Canada) has significant management experience. He is currently president and CEO of (Canadian – IF) energy company Tenaz Energy. Prior to that, he served as executive director, president and CEO of Vermilion Energy, an international hydrocarbon exploration and production company,” Chernyshov noted.
Morino served on the supervisory boards and boards of directors of six companies and organizations from 2002-2020.
“I am sure that his many years of experience in hydrocarbon exploration and production will help our group of companies to achieve the best results,” the head of Naftogaz stressed.
Chernyshov said the reinstatement of Naftogaz’s supervisory board at a time when Ukraine’s energy system is being tested through a full-scale war is an extremely important development.
“Anthony Marino is an upstream specialist with more than 38 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He is a U.S. and Canadian citizen,” added Naftogaz in Telegram.
He has served as executive director, president and CEO of Vermilion Energy, an international hydrocarbon exploration and production company with a market capitalization of $4 billion.
The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has denied the prosecutor’s request for a preventive measure in the form of detention with an alternative to a 365 million UAH bail for the former head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andrey Kobolev.
The court made a decision to that effect on Monday night.
“The petition for a measure of restraint in the form of detention against the suspect Kobolev to leave without satisfaction … The decision can be appealed in the appeal chamber of the SACC within five days from the moment of the announcement,” the judge announced.
As reported, a prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and detectives of the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine last week notified the former head of Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev of suspicion of abusing his official position while ensuring himself a 229m hryvnia bonus payment for the company’s victory in the Stockholm arbitration with Russia’s Gazprom.
According to the investigation, this amount considerably exceeds the normative amounts of such payments (37.48 mln hryvnyas).
The Stockholm arbitration in 2018-19 as a result of two disputes between the companies on the supply and transit of gas ruled that Gazprom had to pay additional $2.56 billion to NAC.
At the same time, the arbitration fully rejected Gazprom’s claims to Naftogaz on the “take or pay” condition for the period 2012-2017 in the amount of $56 billion.
579 filling stations of the U.GO and Ukrnafta brands, which are part of Naftogaz group, have the appropriate equipment and are ready to operate in case of a blackout, the company said in a press release on Friday.
“Gas stations are represented in 20 regions of Ukraine and Kiev,” the group said.
A full list of gas stations can be found on Naftogaz Group’s Power Drive website: fill up at U.GO and Ukrnafta gas stations even in blackout conditions | Naftogaz Ukrainy (naftogaz.com).
“The enterprises of the Naftogaz group do everything possible to support Ukraine and the Ukrainians during the war. So we will be glad to see you at U.GO and Ukrnafta gas stations equipped with generators, which are ready for any possible challenges,” Oleksiy Chernyshev, chairman of the board of Naftogaz Ukraine, was quoted in the press release.
As reported, Naftogaz Oil Trading (a subsidiary of the NJSC) as of November 2022 launched 46 gas stations under the brand U.GO on the basis of assets of the arrested network Glusco, which consists of 126 gas stations
“Ukrnafta owns 85 special permits for the production of hydrocarbons. On its balance sheet there are 1,809 oil and 153 gas wells. The company owns 537 petrol stations, of which 449 were in operation at the beginning of December 2022. The controlling stake in the company belongs to Naftogaz of Ukraine, while the minority stake (about 42%) was held by Igor Kolomoysky and Hennadiy Boholyubov’s structures before the withdrawal.
Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Alexei Chernyshev and Norwegian Equinor CEO Anders Opedal met Friday to discuss gas purchases and potential development of Ukrainian production, the NJSC press service said.
“We have the first agreements with Equinor on the purchase of additional gas volume to pass the most difficult heating season in our history. We hope for special terms of purchase and further reservation of the volume we need,” Chernyshev said in a statement.
In addition, the head of Naftogaz on December 1 discussed with Norwegian Ambassador Erik Svedal the involvement of technology Norwegian oil and gas business and financing the purchase of additional volume of gas needed for Ukraine to pass the winter, given the constant Russian rocket terror.
“At a time when Russia is using the destruction of energy infrastructure as a weapon, support for Ukraine’s energy sector is as important as military support. We look forward to Norway’s continued assistance in this context,” Chernyshev said.
According to the press service, the ambassador said that he expects to increase the announced amount of aid to his state, and future funding will also be allocated to ensure energy security of Ukraine.
As reported, Norway will provide Ukraine with funding of NOK 2 billion (about $195 million) for the purchase of natural gas in winter 2022. Norway plans to use the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as a channel to support gas purchases in Ukraine, while Naftogaz will be a formal recipient of the fuel.
Previously, the Norwegian prime minister said that the kingdom would provide Ukraine with an aid package worth 1bn euros.
