A separate law was adopted in favour of Vitrenko: what does it mean for him and the entire energy sector of Ukraine

Author

Diana Polunina

On February 23, the Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 4531 on the resumption of competitions for civil service positions that were stopped due to quarantine, and on the reinstatement of the Ministers’ powers, including the acting Minister of Energy Yurii Vitrenko, with proposals from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

267 People's Deputies voted "for".

The provision on limiting the exercise of any powers of Deputy Ministers if the post of Minister is vacant was excluded from the law, thereby the President has returned all powers of acting Ministers, in particular, the powers of Vitrenko.

It is worth recalling that the Rada adopted this bill on February 16, but later the Head of state vetoed it, since the powers of the acting Ministers were incorrectly written out in it. Zelensky explained that the provisions stating that the First Deputy Minister or Deputy Ministers perform only certain powers are unacceptable, since they violate the constitutional norms on the appointment of government members on the proposal of the Prime Minister.

"The failure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for a long time to decide on the appointment of a Minister will inevitably lead to the paralysis of the relevant central executive body activities to form and implement the state policy in a certain area," the document with the head of state proposals says.

As for the energy sector of Ukraine, according to the Head of government, the draft law that was adopted on February 16, did not allow unblocking the work of the Ministry of Energy and left the entire energy industry without the possibility of paying salaries, since 50,000 people do not have signed budget programs. It is worth noting that now Vitrenko will receive more powers, and, accordingly, will solve this problem. Here it is also necessary to mention the conflict between Vitrenko and Naftogaz. Thus, last week the acting Minister suggested that the government change the management of the company and terminate contracts with members of the supervisory board.

Context. During an unscheduled meeting, the Cabinet of Ministers on the evening of December 21 dismissed Olha Buslavets from the post of the First Deputy Minister of Energy. After that, it appointed the First Deputy Minister Yurii Vitrenko and entrusted him with the duties of the Acting Minister.