Vitrenko continues to serve as Energy Minister – ministry

 Acting Energy Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Vitrenko, who is currently on a visit to the capital of Qatar, Doha, denies information that has appeared in the media that he allegedly wrote a letter of resignation and says that he continues to serve as head of the department, the Energy Ministry's press service said on Thursday.

"Rumors about complaints from the government, the President's Office, international partners about the work of the Energy Ministry under my chairmanship are manipulative. […] Now I continue to serve as Energy Minister and prepare for a trip as part of the official Ukrainian delegation within the foreign visit of the President of Ukraine, which is scheduled for the coming days," Vitrenko told journalists.

"We have enough external threats, which require the teamwork of government authorities to effectively combat them, and in the position of the Acting Energy Minister I am making efforts precisely for this," the acting minister said.

The ministry's press service said that Vitrenko went to Doha on March 29 for talks with CEO of Qatar Petroleum, Minister of Energy in Qatar Saad Sherida al-Kaabi to form agreements in the energy sector and to prepare the official visit of the President of Ukraine to Qatar. The agreements reached between the states were recorded this week: a number of bilateral documents were signed on April 5; Vitrenko returned to Kyiv on April 7.

On April 7, the media reported with reference to sources in Vitrenko's entourage that the acting minister allegedly wrote a letter of resignation after returning from Qatar. Moreover, he allegedly started talking about his dismissal two weeks ago and then took his personal belongings out of the ministry.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua