Naftogaz plans to see profit by late 2021 – CEO

KYIV. Sept 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy plans to end 2021 with a net profit, CEO Yuriy Vitrenko has said.

"We are doing everything to show that, in the results of this year, Naftogaz is no longer a loss-making company and is financially stable," he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the YES Brainstorming 2021 forum in Kyiv on Friday.

Vitrenko recalled that the stability of Naftogaz largely depends on the solvency and financial discipline of its counterparties to whom it sells natural gas: thermal energy enterprises, industrial and household consumers.

In addition, the financial activities of Naftogaz are also influenced by the results of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), on which the dynamic payments of Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (MGU) for the infrastructure transferred at the end of 2019 depend.

"The situation when a critical element of the infrastructure – GTSOU – incurs losses that are not replenished, for example, due to unauthorized selections or nonpayment for balancing services, is not normal," Vitrenko said.

"Naftogaz has enormous problems associated with the fact that the entire industrial chain was financially unstable. Our task is precisely to make sure that, on the one hand, the entire market can develop financially sustainably, and on the other hand, Naftogaz is a financially stable company. which can increase production and really ensure, and not at the level of declarations, the country’s energy security," he said.