The ministry had been under a caretaker minister since the collapse of the previous government in March 2020. Since then, the position has been temporarily held by four “acting” Energy Ministers - Vitaly Shubin, Olga Buslavets, Yuriy Boyko and Yuriy Vitrenko. Some Ukrainian media have suggested that Galushchenko was appointed to the post at the initiative of MP Andrei Derkach, known for his pro-Russian sentiments and currently under US sanctions as a "Russian agent.
At his first working meeting with the heads of the structural divisions of the ministry, Galushchenko briefly outlining the priority tasks. “The constant change of leadership has had a negative impact on the state of the entire industry,” the minister said. “Today it is important for us to solve these problems, and we need to move very quickly. We need to work to ensure that the country calmly goes through the next autumn-winter period without the spectre of rolling blackouts."
He added that the most important task is to stabilise the energy system. The second issue on the agenda should be the adoption of an effective model, which will make it possible to provide the population with affordable electricity, while not depriving power generating companies of profits. He asked his subordinates to work hard to find solutions that would make it possible to leave behind the problems in the energy sector.
Speaking to the lawmakers, Galuschenko said that his task is to establish mutual understanding with the Verkhovna Rada to solve problems in the energy industry, among which he named debts in the energy markets, incomplete integration of the Ukrainian power system with the European market, fluctuations in gas prices, the need to develop a protection mechanism for vulnerable consumers, the shadow market for petroleum products, as well as fight against the Nord Stream 2 project and diversification of energy supplies.
In addition, he stressed the importance of integrating the Ukrainian energy system into the European ENTSO -E network.
Galushchenko was born in 1973 in Lvov. In 1995 he graduated from Lvov State University with a degree in Jurisprudence, received a law degree with honours. He graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade with a degree in Management of Foreign Economic Activity, received a Master's degree in International Management.
In 2013-2014 he was Executive Director for Legal Support at Energoatom and from May 2020 to 29 April 2021 he was Energoatom Vice President.
