Return of old favorite. Whether Chernyshov will become new Minister of Infrastructure
On May 9, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov and Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi.
While the latter's dismissal was prompted by NABU's suspicion of land lease schemes, Kubrakov was fired as part of a public debate over the failure to ensure proper protection of energy facilities. And the reason was something from the series "he became too friendly with the Americans".
Despite the fact that almost a month has passed since his dismissal, the authorities still have no final candidates for his replacement. However, there is one favourite.
As you know, before Kubrakov's dismissal, the Servants of the People decided to divide his ministry into two, as it had been before. The plan was to bring the Ministry of Communities and Regional Development back to life.
In the original version, Kubrakov and Solskyi were supposed to be dismissed on 8 May, and their successors would be appointed on 9 May.
However, there is still no final version of the staffing solution.
Even before the suspicion story, rumors were spread about a possible merger of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and the Ministry of Economy. Neither ministry is happy about this potential merger, which is more likely to make their employees break out in a cold sweat.
But for now, this option remains under consideration by the Presidential Office (PO). Due to the lack of a strong candidate for the post of minister.
"They would have appointed Taras (Vysotskyi, deputy minister) as minister, but he is also under the NABU investigation. Although it's time to consider it on the merits, and it's not a given that it won't fall apart in court," says a senior official.
So far, Ivan Slobodianyk is the only candidate for the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food who has been voiced from outside the ministry. However, the market does not see him as a strong minister, even though the Association of Farmers and Private Landowners is one of the weakest among farmers' associations.
"Although it will be another person from Saakashvili's nest. They are getting stronger," the source said, apparently also alluding to the current NABU director, Semen Kryvonos, who was also a member of the Georgian president's team.
However, this option is not yet final.
"The Presidential Office is already thinking of merging the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy again. But the European Commission will be against it. I think Slobodianyk still has the best chance," said one of the agrarian People`s Deputies.
"But in general, the PO is focused solely on the summit in Switzerland. Before that, except in case of urgent need, they will not return to the ministers. They may appoint the agriculture minister earlier because the Poles will start blocking the border. And Vysotskyi will not be able to go to the talks with his bracelet on," the source said last week.
However, this Monday, rumors began spreading in telegram channels that the current head of Naftogaz, Oleksii Chernyshov, could be appointed Minister of Infrastructure. And that this is allegedly the only candidate agreed upon.
On Tuesday, the ZN.UA media outlet put forward its own version of the staff turnover: the current head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Oleksii Chernyshov, will become the Minister of Infrastructure and Deputy Prime Minister.
"He was also the head of the Ministry of Regional Development before the merger of the ministries and Kubrakov's appointment. Chernyshov's candidacy has been on the shortlist all this time, but his main condition was the deputy prime ministership. As of today, the negotiators have come as close as possible to an agreement on this," the newspaper noted.
"As for the Ministry of Regional Development, it is likely to be headed by the current Deputy Head of the Presidential Office for Regional Policy, Oleksii Kuleba. At the same time, the construction sector remains under the Ministry of Regional Development," ZN.UA stressed. (This remark is very important, but we will return to it later).
"I can say that 90% of this information will be true," a source close to the Office said of the news.
Rumours that Chernyshov might return to the Cabinet of Ministers had been spreading even before Kubrakov's dismissal. Indeed, one of the conditions for his return was the post of deputy prime minister (as you know, before the full-scale invasion, Chernyshov's ambitions even reached the prime minister's chair. This, in turn, was explained by both his good relations with Timur Mindich, in whose apartment Zelenskyy once lived, and the friendly relations between Chernyshov's wife and the first lady).
"Chernyshov said privately that he would stay at Naftogaz until the end of the year. Foreign diplomats heard the same from him," a gas market source said.
"Well, the end of the year may be brought closer," a senior official responded to this thesis.
A sign that Chernyshov's plans might be reconsidered by the Office was that he refused to attend an important industry forum.
"One does not refuse such invitations. And he said something about leading our veterans to the Euros. And this is a sign that he is not sure whether he will be at Naftogaz by then," said a gas market source.
Oleksii Chernyshov was transferred from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Regional Development to an even more attractive one - the head of Naftogaz - at the end of 2022. A couple of months later, rumours were spreading that a back office had been set up at Naftogaz (allegedly run by Mindich), and a year later, gas market participants said that the company had returned to Yanukovych-era schemes.
Naftogaz's financial statements for 2022 were not published for a long time, although they were ready in April 2023. It was released only after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington. It is possible that this was done to avoid giving the United States an extra argument to criticize Naftogaz's management - despite the demands of foreign partners, the Ukrainian government failed to organize a competition for the head of the company.
UkrGasVydobuvannya is one of Naftogaz's key assets.
UkrGasVydobuvannya periodically releases some positive news about itself. For example, on the eve of winter, Ukraine launched two powerful gas wells. Together, they produce almost 500,000 cubic metres of gas per day.
At the same time, the Sakhalin field, which could produce 1 billion cubic metres of gas annually, has been shut down for almost a year.
The recognized reserves of the Sakhalin field are about 15 billion cubic meters of gas, 1.7 million tons of gas condensate, and about the same amount of oil. During the Yanukovych era, the field was laid claim to by his entourage, including former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mykola Zlochevskyi. Later, the Sakhalin field was in the hands of Ukrnaftoburinnya, a company owned by Ihor Kolomoiskyi, Pavlo Fuks, and Vitalii Khomutynnik, and the company of Arsen Avakov's associate Ihor Kotvitskyi was also involved in gas production.
In 2023, the company's assets were seized as part of the SBI proceedings and transferred to ARMA (Asset Recovery and Management Agency). And the Court of Appeal suspended the production licence. Last month, the National Security and Defence Council held a meeting on the field, but the situation did not move forward.
Therefore, Chernyshov can hardly be called a successful manager of Naftogaz.
In addition, the People`s Deputies took the news of NABU searches of Chernyshov's entourage without irony.
They say we may not even have time to appoint him when there will be suspicions.
On 3 June, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau searched the homes of Vasyl Volodin, a member of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, and Maksym Horbatiuk, the commercial director of UkrGasVydobuvannya, as part of a criminal investigation into alleged abuse of office and obtaining improper advantage.
According to the investigation, officials of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development may have abused their position in the interests of Citygaservice LLC to obtain improper advantage.
In fact, the working group at the Ministry gave consent to the state enterprise Ukrkomunobsluhovuvannya to enter into contracts with Citigasservice LLC. As a result, the Ministry of Infrastructure lost the ability to manage the land near the Syretskyi Arboretum and Rohoziv Yar. Later, the head of Citigasservice offered a bribe to Oleksandr Kubrakov for obtaining a number of other plots.
Volodin, the subject of the searches, was the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Regional Development during Chernyshov's time. Several other people associated with the current head of Naftogaz were also searched.
In particular, detectives searched the homes of Yuliia Marchuk and Anna Drebotii, who are also associated with Chernyshov.
In the materials of the court ruling on the seizure of property, it can be found that Chernyshov's subordinates actually issued permits in 2022, which should have been granted by the Minister himself, for the enterprise to receive the integral property complex of the state-owned enterprise Flowers of Ukraine. At the same time, they forgot to remove Volodin's name from the decision.
"The prosecutor noted that in accordance with the Regulation on the Ministry of Regional Development, approved by CMU (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine) Resolution No. 197 of 30 April 2014 (as amended by No. 850 on 25 September 2019), the working group was not empowered to make such decisions, while these powers (functions of managing state property) belong exclusively to the Minister of the Ministry of Regional Development. Also, it was noted that the members of the working group gave their consent to SE Ukrkomunobsluhovuvannya to enter into a significant economic obligation with Citigasservice LLC in an extremely short time, which indicates an atypical haste for these legal relations," the court said in its ruling.
Perhaps this proceeding explains why some construction business representatives were hoping for Chernyshov's return to the ministry.
Officially, the expectations were related to the fact that allegedly at the end of his ministerial term, he no longer supported the scandalous draft law 5655 (which the minister tried to steamroll by resolution during Kubrakov's tenure).
But excerpts from the proceeding also suggest another reason for the developers' interest in returning Chernyshov's staff.
However, according to ZN.UA, the construction sector is likely to be assigned to Oleksii Kuleba, who is currently the deputy head of the PO and previously headed the Kyiv Regional State Administration.
One way or another, this issue will not be resolved this week.
"No personnel issues are expected in the Verkhovna Rada this week," said David Arakhamia, head of the Servant faction, in the evening.
However, the problem here may not be so much in the personnel decision as in the fact that "not all MPs have returned from Singapore yet."
Tetiana Nikolaienko, Censor. NET
