The supervisory board of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy has included Naftogaz Chief Legal Officer Yaroslav Teklyuk, Naftogaz Group Chief Financial Officer Peter van Driel and Naftogaz Group Chief Transformation Officer Otto Waterlander into the Executive Board, the press service of the company has reported.

At the same time, the Supervisory Board terminated the powers of Yuriy Kolbushkin and Mykola Havrylenko, CEO of JSC Ukrtransnafta as Executive Board members.

Effective immediately the Executive Board of Naftogaz now consists of the following five members: Chairman Andriy Kobolev; First Deputy Chairman Serhiy Pereloma; as well as Executive Board members Yaroslav Teklyuk, Peter van Driel and Otto Waterlander.

"With this change, the Supervisory Board supports the ambition of CEO Andriy Kobolyev to transform Naftogaz, increase its effectiveness and efficiency and strengthen the group’s ability to deliver on the shareholder objectives," Naftogaz said in the press release.

As the sole shareholder of Naftogaz, the government of Ukraine seeks to increase security of supply of natural gas, seek energy independence and create a transparent and competitive gas market, the company said.

In Naftogaz group structure, most operating decisions will be made by the leaders within the business units – integrated gas, oil supply, technical services, renewables and heat – and the by the group's functional directors.

Naftogaz as the sole shareholder has changed accordingly the articles of association of its subsidiaries JSC Ukrtransgaz, JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannia, JSC Ukrtransnafta, JSC Ukrspetstransgaz, and National Company JSC Chornomornaftogaz. Their collegial executive bodies (executive boards and directorates) have been replaced by sole executive authorities. With this new structure, Naftogaz believes it can accelerate the transformation.

"The cornerstone of Naftogaz group's transformation is the principle of personal accountability. The decision by the supervisory board represents the next important step on our transformation journey: now the authority will match the executives' responsibilities. The decisions will be made transparently and managers will be more accountable," Chairman of the Naftogaz Executive Board Andriy Kobolev said.