Parliament votes on government reshuffle (LIVE)
Parliament convenes on Jan. 13 to vote on a proposed government reshuffle initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
As part of Zelensky's reshuffle, Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence chief, was appointed as the new head of the President's Office, while Oleh Ivashchenko, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, assumed Budanov's former role.
The parliament approved the resignations of Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Over 265 lawmakers supported both resignations.
Vasyl Maliuk's resignation as head of the Security Service (SBU) was also approved, with 235 votes in support.
Some opposition lawmakers spoke out against the resignations, arguing that the two ministers had been effective in their roles.
Solomia Bobrovska, a lawmaker from the Holos faction, called Shmyhal's resignation "a mistake."
"In the past six months, an enormous, in-depth professional effort has been made, and I'm really sorry that this change is taking place today," she said during her speech in parliament.
"We would have liked the ministry to gain capacity and strength for at least the next six months, and only then could we pass on the responsibility to someone who will focus on technologies and start building something."
Leader of Zelensky's Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, said that "the energy sector is now in a far worse state than the Defense Ministry," while commenting on the reshuffle.
Shmyhal's tenure as defense minister lasted less than six months. He is set to be appointed energy minister, a post that has remained vacant for two months following Ukraine's largest corruption scandal centered around the state nuclear power company Energoatom.
Some lawmakers and experts suggested Zelensky's decision to pick him as energy minister was driven by a short list of backup candidates. Potential replacements were also hesitant to take on the role, they said.
Shmyhal is expected to step into the position as Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions face a dire energy situation, as Russia continues targeting the country's critical infrastructure.
It was uncertain if there would be enough votes to remove Maliuk. The rumor of Maliuk's dismissal as head of the SBU prompted intense reaction, with prominent commanders urging Zelensky against the move. Still, Maliuk stepped down.
Initially, the parliamentary defense committee didn't approve his resignation on Jan. 12. Besides praising SBU's performance under Maliuk's leadership, some lawmakers pointed out that Zelensky had not yet proposed a new SBU head yet.
As of now, Yevhen Khmara, head of the SBU's Alpha special operations unit, serves as interim SBU head.
Fedorov is set to be appointed as Ukraine's next defense minister.
It's still unclear who will replace Fedorov as the digital transformation minister, with the justice minister role also remaining unfilled.
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Kateryna Denisova
Kateryna Denisova
