Zelensky names Ukraine's prime minister in major cabinet reshuffle

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

The Ukrainian president has chosen close aide and current deputy prime minister Yulia Sviridenko to take over as prime minister.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today nominated Yulia Sviridenko for the top job in the government as part of a major reshuffle of the Ukrainian government.

Sviridenko, the current deputy prime minister and minister of economic development, has been a longtime loyal ally of Zelensky and his enigmatic chief adviser, Andriy Yermak.

She is also a key driving force behind the Ukraine-US mineral resources deal, a controversial economic partnership that allows Americans to profit from Eastern Europe's rich natural resources.

If her candidacy is confirmed by parliament, Sviridenko will succeed current prime minister Denis Shmyhal, who has held the position since March 2020.

Zelensky discussed with Shmyhal on Sunday the strategic steps to transform the executive branch, the second major government shakeup since the war.

“There will be changes. Especially in the defense sector, in all projects that are important for our stability – the state and society,” Zelensky said after meeting with Shmyhal. “We also need to significantly reduce non-essential state spending and, as much as possible, direct public resources towards economic development through deregulation.”

Zelensky also announced on Friday that he plans to appoint current Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. The current ambassador, Oksana Markarova, a veteran diplomat in Washington, was embroiled in a scandal with the Trump administration in September over Zelensky’s visit to a state that is important for the U.S. election.

Shmyhal, Ukraine’s longest-serving prime minister, is being considered for the position of defense minister, the position that Umerov would have taken, according to Ukrainian media reports citing government sources.

The cabinet changes could be implemented as early as this week, with parliament dismissing the current cabinet members on Wednesday and appointing them to new positions on Thursday, a Ukrainian lawmaker told POLITICO.

While the vote is expected to be a formality, some opposition voices criticize the president’s office for taking too authoritative a role in appointing candidates.

“The initiative for cabinet changes does not come from parliament, which appoints them in a parliamentary-presidential republic, but from the president’s office,” Ivana Klimpus-Tsincadze, a Ukrainian opposition lawmaker and chairwoman of the European Integration Committee, told POLITICO.

“The decision will come as a ready-made package, and the majority will just press the ‘Yes’ button. This is another clear example of how the president and his inner circle, unfortunately, now perceive state institutions as a printing house for stamps, and the principle of separation of powers as a formality,” Klimpus-Tsincadze added.

Zelensky's cabinet had no comment on these claims, but had previously rejected accusations of excessive presidential authority.