The Ministry of Energy asks Zelensky to award the title of Hero of Ukraine to the late head of Ukrenergo, Oleksiy Brekht.
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine has appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to posthumously award the title of Hero of Ukraine to Oleksiy Brekht, former acting chairman and member of the board of NEC Ukrenergo.
This was announced by First Deputy Minister of Energy Artem Nekrasov during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on energy and housing and communal services on 30 January. According to him, an official appeal signed by the head of the Ministry of Energy, Denys Shmyhal, was sent to the head of state on Monday, 26 January.
Nekrasov stressed that Brecht made an extremely significant contribution to the stability of the Ukrainian energy system. "We are convinced that Oleksiy Oleksandrovych is a person who has made every effort to ensure that the country's energy sector survives. We hope that the president will decide to award him this high title," he said.
In this regard, the head of the Verkhovna Rada's energy committee, Andriy Gerus, proposed to temporarily postpone consideration of draft resolution No. 14397, through which parliament also planned to appeal to the president with a similar initiative. The document was registered on 23 January. At the same time, Gerus noted that if the consideration of the appeal from the Ministry of Energy is delayed, the committee is ready to promptly join the process.
The daughter of the deceased energy worker, Maria Brecht, was present at the meeting. She thanked everyone who honours her father's memory and continues his work. According to her, it is important for the family to see that Oleksiy Brecht's contribution has not been forgotten and is receiving widespread support.
In addition, on 23 January, two electronic petitions were registered on the website of the Office of the President demanding that Brecht be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine and that his memory be immortalised in the names of streets in Kyiv.
Oleksiy Brecht died on 21 January while working at one of the high-voltage substations. He worked in the energy sector in Ukraine for over 25 years, 23 of which were at Ukrenergo. From September 2024 to June 2025, Brecht served as interim chairman of the company's board, replacing Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.
Ministry of Energy, Volodymyr Zelensky, Hero of Ukraine, Oleksiy Brecht, Ukrenergo, Ukrainian energy sector, parliamentary committee, petition.
