This major gas infrastructure located between Russia and the European Union has led the company to feature prominently in regional politics.

The former PwC management consultant Andriy Kobolyev took over as CEO after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution tasked with reducing the country's dependence on Russian gas and reforming the company's business practices.

[9] The National Commission for State Regulation of Energy (NKRE) was giving out certification for gas trading to anyone without order ignoring the Derzhnaftogasprom.

[9] Along with the gas distribution network in the same way there were privatized enterprises of petroleum products provision including filling station and fuel repositories that belonged to "Ukrnaftoprodukt".

[13][9] On 28 January 1995 after discussion with government the condition of agreements realization in provision for Ukraine gas imported from Russia and Turkmenistan, the head of "Ukrgasprom" Bohdan Kliuk was dismissed from his post on decision of the Cabinet of Ministers.

[9][16] At the end of 1990s, Ukraine was consuming a record of 75 billion m3 per year which was the fourth indicator in the world and seemed strange to say the least considering that the country was not part of the top 20 in GDP volume.

[17] Also, instead of investing more funds in geological exploration for the Ukrgasprom, its money was used to patch budget and foreign debts holes, which led to decrease in mining of hydrocarbons and decline of industry.

[9] In 2001 several Ukrainian parliamentarians made inquiry to the Prosecutor's General Office, Tax Agency, and Security Service requesting to open a criminal case against the head of Presidential Administration Volodymyr Lytvyn, the former chairman of Naftogaz Ihor Bakai, the administration chairmen of joint-stock company "Ukrgasprom" Bohdan Kliuk, the director of state enterprise "Ukrgasprom" Illia Fik, and others.

[19] Naftogaz received more than $6 billion of subsidies in domestic bonds from 2009 to 2012 as regulated gas prices and expensive Russian energy imports led to heavy losses.

[21] This initiative was driven by Russia's decision in June to cease gas supplies to Ukraine in retaliation for the country seeking closer ties with the European Union.

In October 2014 the EU further committed to better connecting its energy grids, setting a target of member countries exporting 15% of their generation capacity by 2030.

[25] In response to the reverse flows initiative, Russia has cut supplies to central and eastern European countries, seeking to prevent exports to Ukraine.

[26] In September, Hungary stopped supplying gas to Ukraine, days after a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Gazprom's CEO.

[29] In March 2018, "Naftogaz" won a trial against Russian Gazprom for shortened gas supplies before the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and was set to receive net amount of $2.56 billion.

[34] An Associated Press report reveals how businessmen Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman and Harry Sargeant III allegedly attempted to replace Naftogaz's CEO, Andriy Kobolyev, and sought to broker a deal to sell their own natural gas to the company.

The treaty included provisions on respecting territorial integrity, financial and economic cooperation, cultural and informational exchange, and the Black Sea Fleet.

[40] On January 25, 2011 EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger first stated that the allocation of funds of the EU for modernization of the Ukrainian GTS depends on the guarantees of Russia to the gas market to Europe, and advised the authorities to persuade the Russian side to refuse to build a Southern Stream gas pipeline and to finance modernization of the Ukrainian GTS.

Ukraine has the largest storage capacity in Europe, which enables the country and its European partners to accumulate over 30 bcm of gas during summer periods when prices are lowest.

[20][52][53][54] Yevgeny Bakulin, who was a close ally of former deputy prime minister Yuri Boiko, was appointed as the chief executive of state energy company Naftogaz in 2010 by the ousted president Viktor Yanukovich.

[57] This is due to the fact that Bakulin was an important player in the corruption scheme of Dmytro Firtash, Serhiy Lyovochkin, a Ukrainian politician – and Yuri Boiko, the former Energy Minister.

Accused of fraud, he would have cashed million dollars on Swiss bank accounts in the name of his son and daughter, Nikolay and Svetlana.

[70] In October 2014, George Soros named Naftogaz to be "a black hole in the budget and a major source of corruption" and called for reform of the company, which could "totally eliminate Ukraine's dependence on Russia for gas".

[52] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty produced a short documentary entitled "The Palaces of Ukraine's Oil and Gas Men" about the homes of Naftogaz management during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, who was overthrown in 2014.