Is Halushchenko's dismissal being launched in the Rada? What is the reason and what does the Ministry say

MPs from the Voice faction, joined by MPs from other factions, plan to register a resolution to dismiss Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko from the post of Minister of Energy due to systemic corruption in the ministry, as well as the conflict with MP Inna Sovsun, which occurred today, January 10, during an hour of questions to the government in parliament. This was reported by UNN with reference to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

"The Parliament officially launches the dismissal procedure for Minister Galushchenko. My colleague and member of the Energy Committee, Inna Sovsun, together with MPs from different factions, is launching the registration of the resolution on the dismissal of the Energy Minister," Zheleznyak said.

The MP named the reasons for demanding the minister's dismissal:

systemic corruption in the energy sector;

Ignoring calls at parliamentary and committee/task force meetings;

attempts to push through a corrupt scheme of "big nuclear construction";

failure to protect part of the energy infrastructure;

absolute loss of any reputation among partners;

outright lies and manipulations;

absolutely unacceptable behavior of the Minister today during the hour of questions to the government.

"Our faction will do everything to ensure that the next session of the Parliament also begins with the report of Minister Halushchenko on corruption in the Ministry, in accordance with the decision of the Parliament, which he has been ignoring for several months," Zheleznyak added.

Sovsun said that today in the Rada, during an hour of questions to the government, Prime Minister Shmyhal said that the completion of the Khmelnytsky NPP had been agreed with the Americans, to which she said that "we, as members of the Energy Committee, received a message from the European Commission delegation and the US Embassy in Ukraine, who are concerned that information is appearing in the public space that they allegedly officially support the completion of the KhNPP. In fact, there is no support from our partners, and they would like to avoid such manipulations in the future.

"Galushchenko took the floor, called the European Commission representatives 'middle-class clerks' and said: "Inna, I am very sorry that you are running around embassies and throwing mud at our energy sector and our state," said Sovsun.

The Ministry of Energy responded to the MPs' accusations, emphasizing that "the media distorted the content of the Energy Minister's report, and the transcript of the Verkhovna Rada meeting clearly states that the Minister's statement does not refer to the words of the EU Ambassador to Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, the issue of the construction of Khmelnytsky NPP units has become the subject of manipulation, including by some opposition MPs and experts. In particular, the private correspondence of mid-level diplomats not authorized to express the official position of the EU or its member states was used in the relevant public discussions. It was this correspondence that the Minister referred to in his report. At the same time, the head of the EU Delegation, Katarina Mathernova, provided appropriate explanations, as Minister Herman Halushchenko noted during the meeting," the ministry said.

During today's meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, Inna Sovsun addressed Denys Shmyhal with the following question: "In your answer about the third and fourth units of the KhNPP, you said that this was agreed with the Americans, with Westinghouse, I want to tell you that we, as members of the committee, have received messages from representatives of the European Commission delegation and from representatives of the American embassy, who are concerned that information appears in the public space that both support this project. In fact, there is no such support. They would like to avoid such manipulations in the future.

Shmyhal replied that "Westinghouse is currently supplying nuclear fuel to Ukraine, and all of our units are not using Russian nuclear fuel today. Just before the full-scale invasion, a year and a half before, we switched all our nuclear units to American-made fuel. Accordingly, the Ministry of Energy is working with Westinghouse.

After that, Shmyhal passed the floor to Herman Galushchenko, who responded: "In fact, this is exactly the case, and if we are talking about the third and fourth units, there is a provision in the text of the law that says that these units will run on American fuel. But as for the position of the mid-level clerks of the European Commission, Inna, I am very sorry that you are running around embassies and slandering our energy sector and our country.

"The issue is that there is no unified approach to the development of nuclear energy in the EU, and everyone knows it. Because there are countries that have abandoned nuclear power, such as Germany, and there are countries like France, where nuclear power accounts for more than 70 percent of production. Therefore, there cannot be a single EU position on the development of nuclear energy, and in particular, the construction of our units. And this was announced accordingly by the EU representative in Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, who said that the EU does not comment on the issue of completion of the units, because it is not an issue..." Galushchenko said.

Recall

In April, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft lawthat provides for a decision on the siting, design, and construction of power units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant.

In June, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services recommended that the parliament adopt in the first reading a draft law on the completion of Khmelnytsky NPP units 3 and 4.