Ukrainian oil and gas giant Naftogaz elects new head

Editor's note: The article was updated with official confirmation from Naftogaz.

The supervisory board of state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz has elected Serhii Koretskyi, the head of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta, as the company's new CEO, the company announced on April 29.

"With his combination of successful experience in both the SOE and private sectors, we are confident that Mr. Koretskyi will lead Naftogaz with great effectiveness through both the current wartime challenges and the coming post-war economic expansion," Naftogaz said in a statement.

This comes as confirmation of the news previously reported by ExPro Consulting.

Oleksii Chernyshov was previously in charge of Naftogaz starting in November 2022. On Dec. 3, 2024, Ukraine's parliament appointed Chernyshov deputy prime minister and 'national unity' minister.

Following Chernyshov's role change, Naftogaz's supervisory board appointed Roman Chumak, who previously served as a member of the board and CFO of Naftogaz, as acting CEO.

According to ExPro, Oleh Prokhorenko, the former head of Ukrgazvydobuvannya, Ukraine's largest gas producer and part of the state Naftogaz Group, also reached the final selection stage.

Since November 2022, Koretskyi has been the head of Ukrnafta, a state-owned oil and gas extraction company, and Ukrtatnafta, an oil refining company.

In 2013, Koretskyi developed the Ukrainian WOG gas station chain as CEO, and in October 2018, he started developing his cafe chain under the Idealist Coffee brand.