The planned appointment of Minister Chernyshov as the head of «Naftogaz» is illegal - NAPC

Chernyshov as a government member is involved in control over the work of «Naftogaz», and that is a problem.

After Yury Vitrenko was dismissed as a chairman of the board at «Naftogaz», the current Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov is planning to take his place. On Wednesday he asked the Ukrainian parliament to accept his resignation.

However, ZN.UA found out, that after receiving information about Chernyshov new occupation on Tuesday, November 1, the head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) Oleksandr Novikov had sent a letter to Prime Minister Denys Shmygal. In that letter he pointed out that Chernyshov's appointment as head of «Naftogaz» would be illegal.

The problem is that the Ukrainian government currently performs the functions of the supervisory board of «Naftogaz». Kyiv promised to its Western partners to form a proper supervisory board for the company. But it never happened. So members of the government including Chernyshov regularly make decisions regarding «Naftogaz».

«First part of paragraph 1, Article 26 of the law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption» says that a person who resigned or otherwise terminated the activities connected with the functions of government or local self-government, shall be prohibited for one year from entering into employment agreements (contracts) with legal entities of private law if the person within one year of termination of the functions of government or local self-government exercised powers on control, supervision, preparation or decisions-making on the activities of these legal entities.  Thus, the appointment of any member of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to «Naftogaz» under the specified circumstances will be illegal», - the letter says.

It is worth reminding that Yuriy Vitrenko himself was illegally appointed as a chairman of the board of «Naftogaz». Because literally the day before that he was acting as the Minister of Energy of Ukraine and directly supervised the company. At that time NAPC publicly and clearly underlined the illegal nature of such a move.

The sources of ZN.UA previously reported that after Yury Vitrenko was fired as the head of «Naftogaz», there was a plan to replace him with Oleksiy Chernyshov. And according to the preliminary plan of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his office, the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine should be liquidated. Its functions then would be entrusted to the Ministry of Infrastructure which is headed by Oleksandr Kubrakov. If this plan is implemented, it is possible that Kubrakov himself will be promoted to vice prime minister.