From Oil to Government: Serhiy Koretsky Takes the Helm of Ukraine’s Cabinet

The appointment of the 48-year-old Koretskyi comes during a major government reshuffle aimed at restructuring the state apparatus ahead of a highly challenging wartime winter for Ukraine.

The Appointment and Cabinet Reshuffle

President Zelenskyy announced that implementing Ukraine’s "updated political strategy" required a fresh administrative structure. The new approach splits heavy political portfolios, allowing experienced officials to focus entirely on singular, critical areas of international relations. Under this framework, individual portfolios will be dedicated strictly to ties with the United States, EU accession, bilateral security cooperation, and relations with the Middle East and China.

Last Sunday, the President of Ukraine unexpectedly announced his gratitude to former Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, while noting that the country and the government required structural changes.

Svyrydenko’s subsequent resignation triggered the constitutional dissolution of her entire cabinet. Following a series of consultations, President Zelenskyy officially submitted Koretskyi's nomination, emphasizing his deep operational background.

International observers and analysts note that Koretskyi is a technocrat rather than a career politician.

"This new prime minister is Zelenskyy's guy... he's not a rival, not a potential threat to Zelenskyy. He's competent. He's a technocrat, not a politician," said Edward Lucas, an analyst at TVP World.

Who is Serhiy Koretskyi?

Koretskyi’s background is unusual for high-level Ukrainian politics, having spent over two decades in the highly competitive private sector before transitioning to state enterprise management.

The new Ukrainian PM climbed the ranks from junior analyst to CEO at one of Western Ukraine's largest business conglomerates. In 2013, he became the CEO of one of Ukraine’s largest petrol station networks, owned a popular Ukrainian coffee chain, and managed international energy trading ventures.

In 2022, Koretskyi was appointed to run state-owned oil companies Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta following their nationalization. In May 2025, he transitioned to lead Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state gas and oil giant.

During the full-scale war, Naftogaz has evolved from a traditional gas supplier into one of the main pillars of physical survival and reconstruction for Ukraine's entire energy grid. Historically, the company focused on gas production, transit, and supply. However, faced with a critical electricity deficit, Naftogaz has stepped in as a major investor in power generation.

Strategic Priorities for the New Cabinet

As Ukraine braces for continued Russian strikes targeting energy infrastructure, Koretskyi's primary mandate is the country's defense and survival.

In his address to Parliament, the new PM outlined three critical priorities:

• Preparing the energy grid for the winter heating season.

• Fully supplying the Armed Forces and boosting the domestic capacity of the Ukrainian defense industry.

• Supporting local businesses, managing international financial aid efficiently, and delivering targeted social programs to frontline communities.

Koretskyi’s immediate challenge will be balancing the technical demands of stabilizing an energy grid under fire while navigating the complex domestic political landscape left in the wake of the defense leadership shake-up.

Sources: Ukrainska Pravda, Interfax-Ukraine, Gazeta Wyborcza