Due to the unsatisfactory performance of the Naftogaz of Ukraine national joint-stock company and Ukrgasvydobuvannia, the authorities are preparing to cancel the moratorium on increasing gas tariffs for the population and plan to equalize the price of gas for household and industrial consumers.
Hennadii Sikalov, an energy expert and former director of Poltavanaftogazheolohiya, wrote about this.
According to his information, such a scenario is being prepared due to numerous problems at the Naftogaz of Ukraine national joint-stock company and Ukrgasvydobuvannia, the incompetence of the company's management and the drop in own gas production.
The expert notes that, despite the statement that Naftogaz will be able to get through the winter without importing gas, recently Naftogaz received a loan from the EBRD to create strategic fuel reserves. At the same time, the PWC audit for 2022 revealed a revaluation of the group's fixed assets, Ukraine's own gas production has significantly decreased and does not reach the 2020 figures, and the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz does not give an objective assessment of the company's activities, since the competition for the appointment of an independent member of the board has been blocked for a year.
"So we have a permanent structure. The “Window dressing”, failures in management (and corruption) and budget holes that are filled with loan money. But they are not enough, and just now the question of canceling the moratorium on raising gas tariffs for domestic consumers and equating them with industrial ones is being decided prices. The increase in prices for households will be presented as a fulfillment of the requirements of Western partners and a strict necessity due to the impossibility of meeting the needs of domestic consumers at the expense of domestic gas," the expert noted.
Among the key reasons that can lead to an increase in tariffs for the population, Sikalov named the drop in own gas production due to the insufficient professional level of the managers of Ukrgasvydobuvannia, corruption and connections with the aggressor state of certain officials of the company.
In particular, the expert emphasized that Oleh Tolmachov, the acting director general of Ukrgasvydobuvannia, was born in Belarus and has close ties to russia, where his mother still lives. In addition, when he was appointed to the position, he submitted inaccurate information about his previous activities. At the same time, Mr. Tolmachov's monthly salary, according to Sikalov, is UAH 2.14 million.
According to the energy expert, the director of drilling and intra-well operations of JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannia, a citizen of Azerbaijan, Akshin Mekhdiyev, is connected with the aggressor state. He hid the fact that he worked in russia - in particular, as a senior supervisor at the russian contractor company Schlumberger Services Ukraine. Also, Mekhdiyev, holding a position in a state-owned company, has a conflict of interests, because he remained the owner of an oil and gas business.
Another name mentioned by Hennadii Sikalov is Sanzhar Zharkeshov, the former deputy director general for exploration and field development of JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannia, who, after his dismissal from Ukrgasvydobuvannia, shook hands with the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller.
The expert emphasizes that the attacks on the Ukrainian oil and gas infrastructure may be related to the anti-state activities of individual managers of the company and called on the law enforcement officers to deal with this issue.
"Is it a coincidence that during the russian aggression against Ukraine, at least 350 natural gas production facilities were damaged, and the loss of gas production facilities is estimated at least USD 700 million? And aren't the intentions to raise prices for the population part of the plan of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine due to the incitement of a social explosion in connection with the increase in gas tariffs, which will inevitably cause a chain reaction of the price of everything? The SSU should have given answers to these questions a long time ago," the expert concludes.
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