Rada approves new govt composition
The Verkhovna Rada, on the proposal of newly appointed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, has approved the new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Some 253 deputies voted for the appointment of government members at a plenary session on Thursday, which was held as a package (except for the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose candidacies are submitted by the president).
The online broadcast of the Ukrainian parliament session on YouTube is being conducted by MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak (Holos faction).
In particular, Mykhailo Fedorov was promoted to First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Digital Transformation (previously - Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology, Minister of Digital Transformation).
The new Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration is the former Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka.
The head of the large unified Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture is the former First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksiy Sobolev (previously the post of Minister of Economy was held by Svyrydenko, the post of Minister of Environmental Protection was held by Svitlana Hrynchuk, and the post of Minister of Agrarian Policy was held by Vitaliy Koval).
Another new official is the former First Deputy Minister of Finance Denys Uliutin, he heads the merged Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine (previously the post of Minister of Social Policy was held by Oksana Zholnovych, and the post of Minister of National Unity was held by Oleksiy Chernyshov).
There are also several officials who remained in the updated Cabinet, but in new positions, in particular, Herman Halushchenko headed the Ministry of Justice (previously he was the Minister of Energy), and Svitlana Hrynchuk headed the Ministry of Energy (previously she was the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources).
In addition, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction, Minister for Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba, Minister of Youth and Sports Matviy Bidnyi, Minister for Veterans Affairs Natalia Kalmykova, Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko and Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko retained their positions from the previous government.
In addition, on Thursday, Denys Shmyhal should be appointed as Minister of Defense under the presidential quota, through whom strategic industries will also be managed (he previously held the position of Prime Minister), and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha should be reappointed.
At the same time, today the Rada did not appoint a new Minister of Culture, because, as the head of the faction of the ruling party Servant of the People David Arakhamia noted earlier, consultations on candidates are still ongoing.
Thus, the following did not receive positions in the new government: former Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna (the president appointed her as a special commissioner of the president of Ukraine for development of cooperation with the United States, while the approval of her candidacy for the post of ambassador to the United States is ongoing), former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Unity of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov, former Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchynov, former Minister of Social Policy Oksana Zholnovych, former Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval (may return to the post of head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine), former Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi (may become Ukraine's permanent representative to the Council of Europe), former Minister of Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin (will head Ukroboronprom), and former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov (the option of appointing him as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council is being considered).