KYIV, July 16 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament approved top energy executive Sergii Koretskyi as the country’s new prime minister, the third wartime head of the government appointed in a wider reshuffle announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Here are some facts about the new prime minister:
KORETSKYI’S FIRST GOVERNMENT ROLE
An engineer and economist by training, Koretskyi, 48, has not held a government role before and has no ties to any political party, which analysts say could play to his advantage.
Volodymyr Fesenko, director of the Penta think tank, has said that his combination of being known as a good manager but being politically neutral gives him an edge.
TWO DECADES’ EXPERIENCE IN ENERGY SECTOR
Koretskyi is a widely respected senior energy executive with more than 20 years of experience in oil production and refining, energy retail, wholesale management, and international financing.
Since May 2025, he has been CEO of one of Ukraine’s biggest state companies, Naftogaz, the oil and gas giant, which runs much of Ukraine’s gas production, imports and supply.
Prior to that, he headed Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest oil company and a part of Naftogaz group.
Before moving to the state-owned energy companies, he headed the Western Oil Group, and served as CEO of the Continuum Group and one of the biggest filling station chains in Ukraine, WOG.
Born in Ukraine’s western city of Lutsk, Koretskyi had also founded a coffee chain business.
PREPARING FOR NEXT WINTER IS PRIORITY
After enduring the heaviest bombardment of its energy infrastructure last winter, one of Koretskyi’s main tasks will be getting Ukraine ready for the next one as Russian attacks continue, while Kyiv is facing a shortage of interceptors to down ballistic missiles.
Zelenskiy told reporters on Wednesday that preparing for winter was the priority.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka;Editing by Alison Williams)
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