Creation of vertically integrated oil company unviable – Naftogaz head
Head of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev has said that the creation of a vertically integrated oil company on the basis of Ukrnafta, Ukrtransnafta and Ukrtatnafta is unviable.
"I do not believe in this idea anymore. I think that Ihor Valeryovych [Kolomoisky] is a tricky partner for these kinds of projects," he said in an interview with the Ekonomichna Pravda online publication.
Kobolev said that Naftogaz Ukrainy and Ukrnafta are close to resolving the issue of the cost of 10.1 billion cubic meters of gas provided by Ukrnafta and consumed by households from 2006-2011 at prices set by the regulator.
"Kolomoisky seeks to get the highest market price. If I'm not mistaken, he filed a $5 billion claim not against Naftogaz Ukrainy, but against Ukraine. This is an eye-watering amount of money. Our position is different," he said.
He said that under Ukrainian law the price of the gas then was set by the regulator. When Ukrnafta was privatized and Kolomoisky joined the company it was a liability to sell gas at the regulator's price.
"I think that Kolomoisky seeks to prove that the state somehow made conditions worse after he bought a stake in the company," Kobolev said.
