Photo: Ministry of Defense

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has failed to appoint Denys Shmyhal as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, after only 210 lawmakers voted in favor — short of the 226 votes required for approval.

Shmyhal had earlier been dismissed from his post as Minister of Defense, a position he had held since the summer of 2025.

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Following the failed vote on Shmyhal’s appointment, parliament adjourned its session until Wednesday.

Shmyhal served as Ukraine’s prime minister from 2020 to 2025. Before joining the government in 2019, he worked at energy company DTEK Zakhidenergo, where he previously headed the Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant.

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