Zerkal Takes on Bigger Job at Naftogaz (Correction)
(Clarifies CEO status at end)
The advisor to Naftogaz's CEO Andriy Kobolev, Olena Zerkal, has been appointed to lead Naftogaz’s international arbitration, litigation and enforcement proceedings against Gazprom and the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian state enterprise said May 15.
Zerkal's new role is part of the restructuring of Naftogaz group. She said her role was "crucial for both the company and Ukraine. It reflects our long-term ambitions to integrate the country into global markets while establishing a better business environment and greater energy security. Work on existing litigation and arbitration proceedings will not only continue but will be accelerated." She was Ukraine's deputy foreign minister from 2014-19 and responsible for European integration issues among other issues.
She was also part of the Ukrainian negotiating team on post-2019 Russian gas transit to Europe and actively participated in trilateral Ukraine-EU-Russia talks regarding the so-called Winter Packages concluded for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 winters. She was also involved in efforts to block construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, through which Gazprom hopes to bring supplies of gas directly to western Europe from the Yamal Peninsula.
Naftogaz did not comment directly on what had happened to former head of business development, Yuri Vitrenko, but it told NGW that the company was pursuing a "competitive and lean" strategy. "Naftogaz continues to streamline its organisational structure, distribution of functions and responsibilities among departments," it said.
It said COO Otto Waterlander, who is also the chief transformation officer, will be responsible for operations and transformation processes, including the implementation of a new operating model and divisional management structure, the implementation of cross-functional processes, and the development of process databases. CFO Peter van Driel will be responsible for co-operation with Ukrnafta.
At the November hearings in the Hague related to the value of the assets seized by Russia in Crimea, Naftogaz will be represented by chief legal officer Yaroslav Teklyuk, who has been involved in Naftogaz’s successful Stockholm cases since 2014. The team will be reinforced by Lana [sic] Zerkal, who had a number of outstanding results in Ukraine’s litigation with Russia over the annexation of Crimea, Naftogaz said.
The company demerged its upstream operations earlier in the month, under a new head, Oleksandr Romanyuk; the head of Naftogaz supply and trading is yet to be appointed. Both will report to Kobolev, whose term as CEO has been extended until March 2024.