Parliament again fails to appoint Vitrenko energy minister
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has again failed to appoint Yuriy Vitrenko as Ukraine's first deputy prime minister and energy minister.
Only 204 MPs voted for a respective decision, with the required minimum being 226 votes, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
On December 17, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada failed to appoint Vitrenko as first deputy prime minister and minister of energy. Only 186 lawmakers then voted for his appointment.
On December 21, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Vitrenko acting minister of energy.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on January 25 asked MPs from the Servant of the People party to support Vitrenko's appointment to the post. He said the acting minister had limited powers.
On January 28, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov said that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had tabled in parliament a proposal to appoint Vitrenko as first deputy prime minister and energy minister.
Vitrenko is a former executive director at Naftogaz. From April 2019 to June 2020, he headed the supervisory board at PJSC Ukrnafta. From October 2019 to January 2020, he was a member of the supervisory board at Ukraine's state defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom.