Ukrgazvydobuvannya, part of the Naftogaz group, has commissioned a new high-yield exploration well with a flow rate of 383,000 cubic meters of natural gas per day.
This was reported in a press release of the group with reference to the chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Serhiy Koretsky.
“This result is a joint achievement of all divisions of Ukrgazvydobuvannya that were involved in the design, drilling, and development.
I would like to thank everyone who worked on this well. Step by step, we are strengthening our own production,” he said.
The well is inclined, with a depth of almost 5.7 km. All work, from drilling to commissioning, was completed a month and a half ahead of schedule.
According to Naftogaz, two more exploration wells are currently being drilled at the same field, and three more are planned to start drilling in the near future.
As reported, Ukrgazvydobuvannya set a new drilling record in January-March 2025, reaching 107,136 meters, which is almost twice as much as in the same period of 2024 and exceeds the previous quarterly maximum recorded in the third quarter of 2024 (102,866 meters).
Naftogaz Group is already sending a payment request to Gazprom to recover $1.37 billion in accordance with the Final Award of the international arbitration in Zurich received by the company on June 20, 2025.
“If Gazprom refuses to comply with the decision voluntarily, Naftogaz will start implementing a strategy for the enforcement of the Russian company’s assets,” the company said in a press release on Tuesday.
As explained by the group, the amount of $1.37 includes the principal debt for gas transit services under the 2019 agreement, as well as penalties and compensation for all legal costs incurred by Naftogaz.
At the same time, the Group continues to enforce another arbitral award – on payment of $5 billion in compensation to the Russian Federation for the illegal expropriation of assets in Crimea in 2014.
“The enforcement process is ongoing at various stages in ten jurisdictions. In Finland and France, there are already first results – Russian property has been seized. In other countries, the work continues,” Naftogaz said.
For reasons of legal strategy, the company is not disclosing additional details at this time.
In most jurisdictions, the interests of Naftogaz are represented by leading local law firms free of charge, on a pro bono basis.
As reported with reference to Naftogaz CEO Serhiy Koretsky, the international arbitration tribunal, which considered in Switzerland the case of Gazprom’s violation of its contractual obligations on the take-or-pay principle, ordered the Russian corporation to pay $1.37 billion in favor of Naftogaz of Ukraine.
“In September 2022, Naftogaz initiated arbitration, which Gazprom tried to block through Russian courts. This did not work. Now we have the final decision: the tribunal of arbitrators from Sweden, Switzerland and Israel completely sided with Naftogaz,” Koretsky wrote on his Facebook page on Monday evening.
He reminded that Gazprom had violated its contractual obligations under the take-or-pay principle since May 2022 by stopping payments.
In May 2025, Naftogaz group companies paid over UAH 7.8 billion in taxes, fees, and mandatory payments to the budget, the company reported.
“Of these funds, UAH 7.2 billion was transferred to the state budget and UAH 640 million to local budgets,” the company said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
According to the group’s estimates, total tax revenues from its companies since the beginning of this year amounted to UAH 38.1 billion.
“Naftogaz remains one of Ukraine’s largest taxpayers, ensuring the country’s financial stability amid war and difficult economic challenges. The amount of taxes paid is not just a number for us. These are real actions that support our state,” commented Naftogaz CEO Serhiy Koretsky.
As reported, in April 2025, Naftogaz paid UAH 7.1 billion in taxes, of which the group transferred UAH 6.4 billion to the state budget and UAH 692 million to local budgets.
In January-April 2025, Naftogaz Group companies paid ₴30.3 billion in taxes, which is more than in the same period of 2024, when ₴28.4 billion was paid.
“In April 2025, ₴7.1 billion was paid. Of this amount, the group transferred ₴6.4 billion to the state budget and ₴692 million to local budgets,” the company said on Monday.
As emphasized by Naftogaz CEO Roman Chumak, the group’s enterprises demonstrate stable tax payment dynamics, contributing to the country’s financial stability.
“Since the beginning of the year, the group has provided 7.6% of all tax revenues to the budget,” he said.
As reported, the net profit of the Naftogaz group for 2024 amounted to almost UAH 38 billion. According to last year’s results, the group’s enterprises paid UAH 88.6 billion in taxes to the general budget, of which UAH 81.8 billion went to the state budget and UAH 6.8 billion to local budgets.
In addition, Naftogaz of Ukraine paid UAH 15.7 billion in dividends to the state in 2024.
In 2024, Naftogaz Group received almost UAH 38 billion of net consolidated profit, which is UAH 15 billion, or 64% more than in 2023.
“All key business areas have shown growth: gas production, transportation and storage, sales and distribution, and electricity and heat sales,” the company said on Thursday.
At the same time, the group’s gross profit for 2024 increased to UAH 89.1 billion compared to UAH 48.5 billion in 2023. At the same time, the operating profit for 2024 amounted to UAH 51.1 billion, which is almost UAH 13.3 billion, or 32% more than the same indicator for the previous period.
The results of Naftogaz’s operations were confirmed by an independent international audit by KPMG.
“Amidst the war, we guarantee energy stability and at the same time strengthen the country’s financial stability. I thank every employee of the group for this result,” said Roman Chumak, CEO of Naftogaz Group.
Naftogaz Group will use a EUR 270 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a EUR 140 million grant from the Norwegian government through the NORAD fund to purchase 1 billion cubic meters of gas as a matter of urgency.
“The funds received are extremely important for Naftogaz. They will allow us to purchase almost 1 billion cubic meters of gas, which is critical for the stable passage of the next heating season, especially in the context of war and regular attacks on our energy infrastructure. I am grateful to all the partners who help Naftogaz prepare for the next winter,” commented Roman Chumak, CEO of Naftogaz Group, in a statement on the company’s website on Monday.
Chumak emphasized that the financing is already available and expressed his gratitude to the EBRD, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and the NORAD Foundation, as well as the Naftogaz team for the successful cooperation that helped to attract financing for gas purchases.
As noted, cooperation with international financial institutions is part of Naftogaz’s long-term strategy to diversify its supply sources and ensure Ukraine’s energy stability.
Earlier it was reported that on April 25, the EBRD confirmed the provision of a EUR 270 million loan to Naftogaz of Ukraine to create strategic gas reserves, Norway supplemented the loan provided under the state guarantee with a grant of EUR 139 million, which will come through the EBRD Special Crisis Response Fund.
“Naftogaz has previously received two EBRD loans totaling EUR 500 million, which were accompanied by guarantees from the United States, Norway, Germany, France, Canada and the Netherlands totaling EUR 275 million, as well as grant funding of EUR 187 million from Norway for emergency purchases of natural gas.
At the end of March, Dmytro Abramovich, a member of the Board and Commercial Director of Naftogaz Group, said that Ukraine needs to import 4.5-4.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas by November 1 this year.
