In the corridors of parliament, likely candidates for the ministerial seats are already being named. The post of energy minister may go to Andriy Zhupanyn, a Servant of the People MP and member of the committee on energy and housing and utilities. He featured in an NACP investigation into concealing his wealth. According to the anti-corruption agency, the MP registered UAH 1,500,000, USD 182,000, EUR 195,000 and GBP 130,000 in his wife's name. Yet the NACP found that between 1998 and 2023 the MP's wife, Bohdana Zhupanyn (née Tarasyk), earned only UAH 235,656.07 (before tax).
Two of his rivals are being named in parliament. One is the president's representative in the Cabinet of Ministers, MP Andriy Herus. The same Herus who was once suspected of lobbying the interests of oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. In January 2020, Herus topped an anti-rating of energy sector executives. The rating was compiled from public surveys by the sociological group Rating. In 2020, Herus was also among the three richest Servant of the People MPs.
Another contender for the post of the country's top energy official is the head of Naftogaz and former head of the WOG chain and Ukrnafta, Serhiy Koretskyi.
As for the justice minister, the candidates for this post are less tainted. The favourite among the president's circle is certainly Iryna Mudra. She is currently Andriy Yermak's deputy and advises him on legal matters. In 2022-2024 she served as deputy justice minister and sought the post of Prosecutor General Kostin. Mudra's civil partner works at the National Bank. Mudra is linked to a scandal over jewellery worth UAH 1.3 million that she was seen wearing in one photo. Journalists also suspected her of holding dual citizenship.
Another likely candidate for this post could be Taras Kachka. Since July 2025 he has been Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration in Yuliia Svyrydenko's government. He is also responsible for the duties of trade representative to the European Union. A lawyer by training, in 2001-2004 he worked as a senior specialist at the Centre for European and Comparative Law. He later held various government posts, but none of them were related to justice.
The last contender for the post of justice minister is Servant of the People MP Denys Maslov. A lawyer and former judge, he entered the Verkhovna Rada after former MP Oleksandr Tkachenko was appointed culture minister. He chairs the parliamentary committee on legal policy. Journalists and civil society activists know him primarily for initiating the scandalous draft law No. 7033-d. It tried to restrict access to court decisions under the cover of martial law. The initiative caused considerable public outrage and was duly shelved.
