The story
Background
The company was established in 1994 through privatization of the "Ukrnafta producing association" state enterprise that existed since 1945. Its initial predecessor was Ukrnaftcombinat. Ukrnafta is a Ukrainian portmanteau word that is a combination of the words for "Ukrainian" and "oil".
Just over 50% plus one share of the company is owned by the state company Naftogaz Ukrainy, 42% of the company belongs to the Privat Group based in Dnipro. Together with Chornomornaftogaz and Ukragazproduction they are the only state companies involved in extraction and refining of gas and oil.
After the appointment of Mark Rollins (ex BP and BG Gas) as CEO in 2015 the company is widely considered as having transformed itself into a leading model of corporate governance in the new economy of Ukraine.
Starting from 1 May 2019 Oleg Gez as acting Ukrnafta CEO.
Ukrnafta had 85 permits for hydrocarbon extraction (commercial development of reserves). As of year-end 2020, Ukrnafta had 1 813 oil wells and 155 gas wells in operation, including main and joint activity.
2022 Nationalisation
On November 6, 2022, the government led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used martial law to seize control of the company. “Such steps, which are necessary for our country in conditions of war, are carried out in accordance with current laws and will help meet the urgent needs of our defense sector.” The government of Ukraine also took control of engine maker Motor Sich, energy company Ukrtatnafta, vehicle maker KrAZ and transformer maker Zaporozhtransformator at the same time.
Just prior to the seizure, Naftogaz owned 50% +1 share, other shares were held:
13.6% Little Enterprises Limited
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13.6% Bridgemont Ventures Limited
12.9% Bordo Management Limited
Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov owned 42% of the shares in Ukrnafta. These shares will be transferred to a special depository account managed by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ukrnafta, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4