Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov Meets with Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul

During his working visit to Turkey, Chairman of the Board and CEO of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, Oleksiy Chernyshov, met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The meeting took place at the Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul — the official residence of the Patriarch. The political leader shared this on his Facebook page.

“I expressed my heartfelt gratitude to His All-Holiness for supporting the Ukrainian people and for his daily prayers for peace in Ukraine. We greatly appreciate it,” wrote the Naftogaz CEO.

Chernyshov also emphasized the importance of mutual respect and understanding among all religious communities in Ukraine. In his words, during wartime, unity, solidarity, and mutual support are critically important for the resilience of society.

“We are one people defending not only our territories but also our values: freedom, dignity, and the right to be ourselves,” he stressed.

He further called for the preservation of interfaith peace and unity, highlighting the need to overcome the current challenges facing church life in Ukraine.

It is worth recalling that the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, stated that since the legalization of the Ukrainian schism through the granting of the Tomos, the OCU has taken over 1,900 religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At the same time, according to Yelensky, the UOC still retains over ten thousand communities.