Ukrainian parliament appoints Shmyhal as energy minister on second attempt
The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) has approved the appointment of Denys Shmyhal as first deputy prime minister and minister of energy on the second attempt.
Source: live broadcast of the parliamentary session
Details: A total of 248 MPs voted in favour, 2 voted against, 20 abstained and 33 did not vote.
Shmyhal outlined the principles of his work as energy minister as "recovery, resilience and modernisation", adding that decisions must be taken at an accelerated pace, with distributed power generation the priority.
The Verkhovna Rada failed to approve Shmyhal's appointment as energy minister on 13 January, with only 210 MPs voting in favour.
Former energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk's dismissal was approved on 19 November 2025.
Prior to that, until the summer of 2025, the Energy Ministry was headed by Herman Halushchenko.
Background:
- On 13 January, the Verkhovna Rada approved the dismissal of Denys Shmyhal as minister of defence.
- Former prime minister Shmyhal was appointed defence minister in July 2025 .
- The parliament also approved the appointment of Mykhailo Fedorov as the new minister of defence.
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