Yatsenyuk: Ukrainian state companies will be managed by foreigners

Ukrnafta, Ukrtransnafta and Ukrtatnafta will be managed by foreigners, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told ICTV on Sunday.

“We respect the rights of the other shareholders but will appoint new efficient foreign managers,” Yatsenyuk said.

He said that the managers will be selected through a public competition. “The managers of these companies will be selected live, so, there will be no chance for relatives or friends to get offices there,” the Ukrainian premier said.

Yatsenyuk’s statement followed the recent conflict between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and former Governor of Dnipropetrovsk region Igor Kolomoisky.

The conflict was caused by Poroshenko’s new JSC law allowing the Government to take Ukrnafta and Ukrtransnafta away from Kolomoisky. The oligarch besieged Ukrnafta’s Kiev office and charged the President with seizing his company. Kolomoisky’s act was followed by Poroshenko’s decision to dismiss him.