Kobolyev made no public comment yesterday about his dramatic fall.

Vitrenko, his former deputy, said the CEO switch is a “logical” response to “inefficient management of Naftogaz Ukrainy.” “The state must be an active owner,” he said in an interview last night with Interfax Ukraine. “The Cabinet of Ministers has the right and obligation to respond to problems in the company…When you submit a financial plan and promise something, and, then, instead of the planned 11 billion UAH [$400 million] of profit, you receive 19 billion UAH {$685 million] of loss, it leads to the fact that your owner reacts.”