Ukrgasvydobuvannya, subsidiary of Ukraine’s state-owned gas giant, Naftogaz Group, will receive a €36.4 million loan ($41.6 million) from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to modernize its gas drilling equipment, the companyʼs CEO Sergiy Koretskyi announced in a press release on June 2.
Ukrgasvydobuvannya will use EBRD funding to buy new mobile drilling rigs with lifting capacities of 125 and 180 tons. This will improve the company’s ability to carry out complex well workovers, especially at greater depths, the press release says.
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Now, most of Ukrgasvydobuvannya’s rigs can lift only up to 80 tons, which is not enough for many of the older, deeper wells across the country. According to the release, the new equipment will help close that gap and bolster Ukraine’s energy resilience.
“Modernizing our fleet will allow us to operate on deeper, more technically demanding wells,” Koretskyi says. “It will also help speed up the restoration of production at existing sites, supporting a stable gas supply for Ukraine.”
This is not the first EBRD financing for Naftogaz to improve Ukraine’s energy security. To start preparing for the 2025 winter heating season, Naftogaz has secured €430 million ($489 million) from the Bank in April.
In addition, the EBRD lent Naftogaz €270 million ($307 million) to finance emergency gas purchases for the next two heating seasons, EBRD Vice President Matteo Patrone told Kyiv Post.
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After Russian attacks on energy storage facilities and production infrastructure, Ukraine needs around $1.1 billion to secure gas supplies before the next winter’s heating season.
However, this $41.6 million loan is the first time the EBRD is directly financing gas drilling equipment.
Increasing domestic gas production has been a top priority for the Ukrainian government since Koretskyi became CEO of Naftogaz Group in spring 2025, the press release says.
On May 14, Koretskyi took over the role of the new Chief Executive Officer of the Naftogaz Group. He is the first CEO to launch an upgrade of Groupʼs production equipment.
Koretskyi is the former CEO of Ukraine’s largest private oil company, WOG (Continuum Group). In 2022, he became the head of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta – Ukraine’s largest state-owned group of oil extraction and production companies – after it was nationalized from its oligarch owner, Ihor Kolomoisky.
In the autumn of 2024, Koretskyi reported that Ukrnafta had made Hr.40 billion ($963.6 million) in profits during 2022-2024. As CEO, he also organized the first 3D seismic surveys in a decade, replacing worn-out equipment.
In 2025, Ukrnafta plans to drill around 30 new wells, as well as overhaul and upgrade equipment to intensify production, Ukrayinska Energetyka reported.
