Bankova considers Naftogaz’s Koretskyi for energy minister as it seeks to contain fallout from the Mindich scandal

A corruption scandal involving businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has triggered personnel changes in the government. Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko announced the suspension of Herman Halushchenko from his post as justice minister — his voice on the recordings released by NABU may have been heard under the alias “Professor.” Svyrydenko initially proposed removing Halushchenko and rebooting the supervisory board of Energoatom, the company at the center of large-scale embezzlement in wartime no-bid tenders.

The next day, after a new batch of recordings was released mentioning a phone call from the president to “the Professor,” Zelenskyy called on all figures in the scandal to resign. Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk resigned earlier, after recordings surfaced discussing details of her personal life. The President’s Office now faces the need to find a candidate with an impeccable reputation to lead the Energy Ministry — a move intended to calm public discontent and address concerns among European partners.

It appears the President’s Office has already chosen a potential candidate: Serhiy Koretskyi, CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine.

Ukrnafta – Naftogaz

Koretskyi became CEO of Naftogaz in May 2025 after his predecessor, Oleksiy Chernyshov, was appointed minister of national unity. Chernyshov later received two NABU notices of suspicion and lost his positions and political prospects. His voice is also heard on NABU recordings under the alias “Che Guevara.”

Before that, Koretskyi spent more than two years heading Ukrnafta, and earlier managed the WOG gas station network and developed his own café chain under the Idealist Coffee brand.

In 2024, while presenting the national Resilience Plan in parliament, Zelenskyy publicly praised the Naftogaz Group and specifically highlighted Ukrnafta’s leadership. The president said the company had achieved record results, paying 78 billion hryvnias in taxes and fees, earning 43 billion hryvnias in net profit, and regularly transferring dividends to the budget even during wartime. “These figures show how much we used to lose because of years of lack of oversight,” he said.

The state gained control over Ukrnafta in November 2022, inheriting problematic issues worth roughly 100 billion hryvnias, Koretskyi told NV Business. His task as CEO was to stabilize the company.

In May 2025, Koretskyi was promoted after winning the competition to lead the Naftogaz Group. Then–Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal outlined his priorities: preparing for the heating season, accumulating gas reserves, restoring infrastructure, increasing production, and developing distributed generation.

For the second time, Koretskyi had to deal with a “heavy legacy,” including replenishing depleted gas storage facilities amid constant missile and drone attacks. According to NV Business, Naftogaz plans to import additional gas volumes, although this work is not yet complete.

Image Savior for the Government

After NABU announced the first seven suspicions in the Midas case — involving alleged influence over Energoatom — the management structure of Ukraine’s energy sector sustained a major blow.

One of the steps the President’s Office appears to have taken to restore public trust and reassure Western partners was the decision to appoint a new energy minister with an impeccable reputation — to lead a ministry now at the center of a corruption storm.

Sources told the newsroom that the Naftogaz CEO is the key contender for the ministerial portfolio and that “there are no other candidates for now.”
“As far as I know, the shortlist previously included Naftogaz supervisory board member Nataliia Boiko and Lviv regional administration head Maksym Kozytskyi,” a government source told NV Business.

“If the president and prime minister decide that he [Koretskyi] is ready, then he will be ready,” a source in the President’s Office told NV Business. At the same time, the source suggested that the matter has not yet been formally discussed with Koretskyi.

As for Koretskyi’s own position: as of publication, the Naftogaz press service had not provided comment. It is known that the Naftogaz CEO is currently in Warsaw attending the Rebuild Ukraine forum.

Parliament may consider dismissals of the previous ministers and new appointments at its Nov. 18 session.

What awaits Koretskyi in the Cabinet?

Koretskyi has served as CEO of Naftogaz for less time than his predecessor, Roman Chumak, spent as acting chief, energy expert and ExPro Ukraine director Hennadii Kobal told NV Business. According to him, Koretskyi’s potential move to the Cabinet could harm Naftogaz, which is only now beginning to show its first solid results.

“The new Naftogaz team was just formed and began working actively: with international partners, on attracting financing. There were the first strong results in gas production. As of September, the figures exceeded all wartime years since 2022,” the expert said. Naftogaz also fulfilled the government’s mandate to inject 13.2 billion cubic meters of gas into underground storage.

Kobal noted that Naftogaz now faces the task of getting through the heating season, and a change in leadership at this stage would only cause harm. “In such a short time, it is impossible to implement a vision for reforming the company or build an effective management system,” he added.

At the same time, the expert believes Koretskyi has reason to move into the government only if he receives real political autonomy and weight — meaning the authority to say “no” to the President’s Office if pressured to keep tariffs unchanged. In his view, the most suitable role for this would be that of deputy prime minister.

“Koretskyi will have to bring in his own people, because there is nothing he can do there alone,” Kobal concluded.

“Our partners are currently lending money for gas purchases solely because they have full personal trust in Koretskyi,” a source in the energy market told NV Business. According to the source, any change in Naftogaz leadership could create communication risks with donors.