Millions in Salaries: How Much Are the Executives of Naftogaz, Ukrenergo, Ukrposhta, and State-Owned Banks Paid?
17 August 13:01
ANALYSIS
The salaries of executives at Ukraine’s largest state-owned companies have long been measured not in tens of thousands, but in hundreds of thousands of hryvnias per month. In some cases, monthly compensation exceeds 2 million hryvnias, and when bonuses are included, total payments can reach tens of millions per year.
At the same time, the government does not maintain a single public registry of salaries for top executives at state-owned companies. Some of the compensation can be determined based on declarations filed with the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK), some based on data that the companies themselves are required to disclose, and some companies do not publish their executives’ current compensation at all.
"Komersant Ukrainian" investigated how much the executives of the largest state-owned enterprises, companies, and banks earn.
“Naftogaz”: nearly 2 million UAH per month
One of the highest-paid executives in the public sector was Serhiy Koretskyi, who took the helm of Naftogaz of Ukraine in May 2025.
For 2025, Koretsky declared 14.4 million UAH in salary from Naftogaz. The data is contained in his 2025 declaration to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK).
Koretskyi began serving as chairman of the board of Naftogaz on May 14, 2025. If we divide the 14.4 million UAH by approximately 7.5 months of work at the company, the average monthly payment was about 1.9 million UAH.
“Ukrenergo”: Over 1 million UAH, excluding bonuses
Vitaliy Zaychenko, chairman of the board of NEC “Ukrenergo,” received approximately 725,000–750,000 UAH per month in early 2026. In June, his pay , after a bonus was added, rose to approximately 1.4 million UAH.
In 2024, Oleksiy Brecht served as acting chairman of the board at Ukrenergo. In October 2024, his salary was 434,800 UAH. In December, his pay was nearly the same—434,052 UAH. In addition to his salary, Brecht was credited with 33,333 UAH in December as an additional benefit for health insurance.
In early 2025, his payments decreased slightly: in January, Brecht received 422,000 UAH, and in February, 415,800 UAH.
Ukrenergo published the corresponding salary data for December in a report prepared in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information.”
Meanwhile, the previous head of Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, received a payment of approximately 17.3 million UAH in September 2024, which included a settlement upon the termination of his tenure.
“Ukrposhta” and “Ukrzaliznytsia”: Current Figures Are Hidden
The situation with the largest state monopolies is more complicated. “Ukrzaliznytsia,” “Ukrposhta,” and “Energoatom” do not disclose the current salaries of their executives in the same format as some state-owned companies do.
At the same time, the head of “Ukrposhta,” Ihor Smilianskyi, has publicly disclosed his own compensation.
According to him, in 2024, his salary—including a bonus for handling state secrets—amounted to approximately 970,000 UAH per month before taxes. After taxes, he cited a figure of about 577,200 UAH.
In other words, the actual compensation for the head of Ukrposhta was already close to 1 million UAH per month in 2024, although current payment figures for 2026 are not yet publicly available.
As for “Ukrzaliznytsia,” back in 2021, then-Chairman of the Board Volodymyr Zhmak reported that he was receiving 625,000 UAH per month. The company does not disclose how much its top management earns today.
State-Owned Banks and Salaries
Mikael Björknerth , chairman of the board of the state-owned PrivatBank, received approximately 24.2 million UAH in 2025, or an average of about 2 million UAH per month.
In May 2026, his compensation was significantly higher: 2.9 million UAH in salary plus 10.5 million UAH in bonuses. In total, for a single month—about 13.4 million UAH.
In other words, Björkner’s bonus for a single month was greater than the annual salary of many heads of state institutions.
At the state-owned Oschadbank, the chairman of the board’s compensation is somewhat lower. According to data provided on the bank’s operations, the average monthly compensation for the chairman of the board in 2025 was approximately 1.2 million UAH, and in June 2026, the current chairman of the board , Yuriy Katsion , received approximately 1.3 million UAH.
How much does the head of the NBU earn?
Andriy Pyshnyy received approximately 7 million UAH in salary for 2025, which amounts to roughly 585,000 UAH per month.
The state pays millions
Open data reveals only part of the compensation system. Consequently, the current compensation packages for the heads of major state-owned companies such as Ukrzaliznytsia and Energoatom are not fully disclosed to the public.
