Naftogaz appointees to push for change in Ukraine

State-owned Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Yuri Vitrenko has restructured its team in order to help achieve a major breakthrough in stakeholder relations, implement complex reforms and find new tools to oppose Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 project, he said May 27. 

Myron Wasylyk and Roman Suprun will lead these efforts with additional members coming soon, while others have left the company since the government's board-room coup late April.

As advisor to Vitrenko, the Johns Hopkins and INSEAD alumnus Wasylyk will be responsible for the company’s wider co-operation with international organisations. His experience includes spells in US administrative agencies such as the Department of State. He replaces Vadym Glamazdin and Olena Zerkal as advisors to the previous CEO Andriy Kobolev.

Suprun will lead co-operation with the Ukrainian parliament, government agencies, and other stakeholders of Naftogaz Group. He joined Naftogaz in October 2019 and promoted important legislative initiatives including support for the  unbundling of the transmission system operator in parliament and other strategic projects.

Suprun's profile includes successful advocacy cases with the private sector, civil society, and the government as a ministerial advisor on parliamentary relations.

The company also appointed a new head of corporate communications, Maksym Bielawski mid May, replacing Aliona Osmolovska who had led the communications team at Naftogaz for more than five years. Since April 2020, she was Naftogaz director for government relations and stakeholder relations.

The company said Wasylyk, Suprun, and "other responsible employees of Naftogaz Group are expected to ensure effective opposition to the Nord Stream 2 project following a slowdown observed since March 2021."