KIEV
Ukraine’s parliament voted Thursday to approve Yulia Svyrydenko’s appointment as prime minister and the composition of her government, in what is the largest Cabinet reshuffle since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.
Lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko wrote on Telegram that deputies of the Verkhovna Rada approved Svyrydenko for the post with 262 votes in favor.
Svyrydenko served as first deputy prime minister and economy minister, posts she has held since November 2021.
Honcharenko later announced that parliament also approved the composition of Svyrydenko’s cabinet in subsequent votes, as a result of which Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha retained his post while Denys Shmyhal, Svyrydenko’s predecessor, was appointed defense minister.
Shmyhal, Ukraine’s longest-serving prime minister, and his Cabinet’s resignation were approved by the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday.
According to the draft bill regarding the new Cabinet’s formation on parliament’s website, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov assumed the post of first deputy prime minister vacated by Svyrydenko.
Other key appointments include Svitlana Hrynchuk as energy minister; Herman Halushchenko as justice minister; Taras Kachka as deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration; Oleksii Sobolev as economy, environment and agriculture minister and Denys Uliutin as social policy, family and unity minister.
The bill indicated that the interior, veterans affairs, education, health, communities and territories, and youth and sports ministers have retained their posts.
Svyrydenko wrote on X after her appointment: “Our Government sets its course toward a Ukraine that stands firm on its own foundations — military, economic, and social. My key goal is real, positive results that every Ukrainian will feel in daily life.”
As her government’s priorities for the next six months, she listed reliable supplies for the Ukrainian army, the expansion of domestic weapons production and boosting the technological strength of the defense forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Monday that he had proposed Svyrydenko to lead the government, signaling the start of a major Cabinet reshuffle as the war with Russia rages on in its fourth year.
Svyrydenko became the second woman to assume the prime minister post after Yulia Tymoshenko, who held the position briefly in 2005 and later from December 2007 to March 2010.
