KYIV, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Ukrainian lawmakers on Tuesday failed to approve outgoing defence chief Denys Shmyhal as energy minister, a rare rebuke of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he attempts to shake up key sectors at a critical moment in the war with Russia.
Shmyhal, who served as prime minister for five years until he was shifted to the defence ministry last year, had been tapped by Zelenskiy to steer an energy sector hobbled by corruption allegations and Russian attacks on infrastructure.
The last permanent energy minister was fired last year in a corruption scandal that also implicated her predecessor.
Shmyhal’s appointment failed to receive the necessary 226 votes, with 210 lawmakers voting in favour and three opposition parties abstaining.
He had been proposed for the job as part of a wide-ranging government reshuffle with Kyiv facing mounting Russian pressure as the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s invasion approaches next month.
Before Tuesday’s session, during which lawmakers were also expected to tap Ukraine’s digital chief to lead the defence ministry, some opposition lawmakers had criticised the wartime reshuffle.
Solomiia Bobrovska, a member of the liberal opposition Holos party who sits on parliament’s national defence committee, said replacing Shmyhal could be disruptive for a ministry that still needed to “build up its own strength”. Holos was among parties that abstained.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Dan PeleschukWriting by Dan PeleschukEditing by Andrew Cawthorne, Peter Graff)
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