Zelenskyy Appoints New Prime Minister; Protesters Oppose Defense Minister Change

Serhii Koretskyi was confirmed as Ukraine’s new prime minister on Thursday as lawmakers voted in Kyiv. Hundreds of protesters gathered in the city center to oppose the government reshuffle that removed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Koretskyi, 48, is a trained engineer who spent more than two decades in fuel and food industries before taking charge of state-owned energy companies.

In 2022 the government appointed him to lead Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta after seizing them from oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi. Within two years the firms posted record profits, cleared tax debts, expanded production and supplied fuel to the military while funding drones. Last year Koretskyi became chief executive of Naftogaz.

He conducted an audit that led to restructuring, rebuilt gas reserves above 13 billion cubic meters and raised nearly $1 billion. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called him “the most prepared candidate” for prime minister. Koretskyi is Ukraine’s third prime minister since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

He now leads a wartime government facing expected severe winter conditions from Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. His immediate priorities include protecting the energy system, stabilizing the economy and expanding domestic arms production. Fedorov, viewed as an innovator behind Ukraine’s drone program, was removed in the reshuffle after clashing with the traditional military establishment.