If confirmed by Ukraine’s parliament, Svyrydenko would replace current Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who has been in post since March 2020.
Zelenskyy met with Shmyhal on Sunday and discussed strategic steps for the transformation of the executive branch, the second major wartime reshuffle of the government.
“There will be changes. In particular, in the defense sector, in all projects for the sake of our stability — the state and society,” Zelenskyy said of the shake-up after meeting Shmyhal. “We also need to significantly reduce noncritical state expenditures and, as much as possible, through deregulation, direct public forces for the sake of economic development.”
On Friday, Zelenskyy also announced he intends to appoint current Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. The current envoy, Oksana Markarova — Kyiv’s diplomatic veteran in D.C. — was in September embroiled in a scandal with Donald Trump’s administration for organizing a visit from Zelenskyy to a battleground state during the U.S. presidential election campaign.
Shmyhal, Ukraine’s longest-standing prime minister so far, is being considered to get Umerov’s post in the defense ministry, several Ukrainian media outlets have reported, citing government officials.
The government changes might happen as soon as this week, with the Ukrainian parliament dismissing the government members on Wednesday and appointing them to new posts on Thursday, a Ukrainian MP told POLITICO.
