The Servant of the People parliamentary faction held a meeting with Serhiy Koretskyy, who could become the next head of government. Faction leader Davyd Arahamiya said they spoke with the candidate about his vision for the Cabinet of Ministers’ work and the government’s structure.
Arahamiya noted that Koretskyy has substantial experience in both the corporate and public sectors and has proven himself at Ukrnafta and Naftogaz. Koretskyy currently serves as the latter’s CEO.
“During the last heating season, gas was, in effect, the only energy resource that was supplied to consumers steadily despite attacks on production and storage facilities. We consider this experience extremely valuable, especially now as Ukraine prepares for what is likely to be the hardest winter in our history,” he said.
Among the government’s priorities, Serhiy Koretskyy named supporting people, preparing for the heating season, strengthening the Defence Forces, and protecting infrastructure.
A vote on his appointment is expected tomorrow.
According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, on 15 July Koretskyy invited all parliamentary factions and groups to a meeting. He is the first of four prime ministerial candidates in recent years to initiate the consultation process himself.
LB sources reported as early as Sunday—when the president announced plans to reshuffle the government—that Serhiy Koretskyy is the most likely candidate for the post of prime minister.
Yesterday, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Yuliya Svyrydenko’s Cabinet. It fell three days short of completing a full year in office.
Until a new government is appointed, the Cabinet will be led in an acting capacity by First Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and all ministers will also serve in an acting capacity. The president must submit nominations for the ministers of defence and foreign affairs. The heads of the remaining ministries will be proposed by the new prime minister.
Serhiy Koretskyy
He earned his higher education at Lutsk State Technical University: in 2001 in mechanical engineering, and in 2005 in business management. In 2019, he completed an Executive MBA program at the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School.
For more than 20 years, Koretskyy was associated with the Continium Group of Companies. Starting in 1997, he rose from an employee in the analytics department to CEO. In 2002, he headed the joint venture West Oil Group, and from 2007 he ran the group’s management company.
From 2002 to 2006, he served on a voluntary basis as an aide to MP Ihor Yeremeyev of the 4th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada (For a United Ukraine).
In 2006, he unsuccessfully ran for the Verkhovna Rada of the 5th convocation from a non-electable part of the list of the Lytvyn People’s Bloc (No. 214). That same year, he unsuccessfully ran for the Volyn Regional Council of the 5th convocation from the Lytvyn People’s Bloc.
In 2007–2012, he served on a voluntary basis as an aide to Kateryna Vashchuk, an MP of the 6th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada elected from the Lytvyn People’s Bloc.
In 2012–2014, he served on a voluntary basis as an aide to MP Ihor Yeremeyev, a self-nominated member of the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation.
From 2013, he managed the WOG gas station chain, introducing new business models, including launching coffee shops outside filling stations.
In 2018, he finished his work at Continium and focused on his own projects. In 2019, he founded Idealist Coffee Co., a coffee brand with a full production cycle that also operates a chain of coffee shops. As of 2024, 10 such locations were operating in Kyiv, and since 2022 Idealist products have been supplied on Ukrzaliznytsya trains. He exited the beneficiaries of the coffee business at the end of 2021.
In 2019–2022, he was co-founder and chairman of the board of the energy trading company Centurion Group SA in Switzerland.
On 9 November 2022, Serhiy Koretskyy was appointed director of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta after the companies were transferred to the management of the Ministry of Defence.
On 28 April 2025, the supervisory board of Naftogaz of Ukraine decided to appoint Serhiy Koretskyy as CEO.