Rada appoints Shmyhal Energy Minister on second attempt

On Wednesday, January 14, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada appointed Denys Shmyhal as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy after a second vote, following a failed attempt the day before.

During the repeat vote, 248 lawmakers supported Shmyhal’s appointment, exceeding the 226 votes required for approval.

"My key task in this position is to overcome the acute phase of the energy crisis as quickly as possible," Shmyhal told parliament in his address.

He said his immediate priorities include restoring power generation, substations, and electricity grids damaged by Russian shelling, as well as building up reserves of capacity and critical equipment.

Another priority, according to Shmyhal, is the development of decentralized generation. "The dynamics are positive, but the pace needs to be increased significantly. Our goal is to create a model in which distributed generation covers local needs and provides backup capacity in the event of emergencies," he said.

Shmyhal also listed modernization of existing facilities to boost gas and oil production among his key objectives. Technical tasks include upgrading power lines along the border with the European Union, increasing transformer capacity, and constructing new interconnectors.

Shmyhal has worked in the Ukrainian government for six years, and the Energy Ministry post is his fourth senior government position.

On February 4, 2020, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communities and Territories Development in the government of Oleksiy Honcharuk. One month later, he replaced Honcharuk as prime minister.

Shmyhal served as Prime Minister of Ukraine from March 4, 2020, to July 17, 2025, becoming the longest-serving head of government in the country’s history. Over the past six months, he served as Minister of Defense in the government led by Yuliia Svyrydenko.

• Ukraine has been without a permanent Minister of Energy since November 2025, when then-minister Svitlana Hrynchuk resigned amid a corruption scandal at state energy company Energoatom. Artem Nekrasov had been serving as acting minister.