The Verkhovna Rada at an extraordinary meeting appointed Denis Shmygal as Prime Minister of Ukraine. The candidacy of Shmygal, who previously held the post of deputy prime minister, was submitted to the deputies by President Vladimir Zelensky.
Recall that former Prime Minister Alexei Goncharuk on the eve wrote a letter of resignation. Goncharuk’s decision was supported by 353 deputies with the required minimum of 226 votes. By law, the departure of the prime minister entails the resignation of the entire cabinet.
It is worth noting that Alexey Goncharuk first wrote a letter of resignation in mid-January, after the media published a recording of a conversation in which a person who resembles the prime minister in his voice declares that President Vladimir Zelensky does not understand the economy. The second statement by Goncharuk was reported to the media at the end of February. Then the prime minister was allegedly annoyed by a public discussion of his possible dismissal.
Also during the vote, the Verkhovna Rada approved the new composition of the government proposed by Denis Shmygal. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov, Minister of Infrastructure Vladislav Krikliy and Minister of Justice Denis Malyuka retained their posts.
Shmygal suggested that Rada appoint Aleksey Reznikov, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, and Vadim Priestayko, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
At the same time, the new Prime Minister proposed to appoint Marina Lazebnaya, Minister of Youth and Sports Vadim Guttsait, Minister of Veterans Affairs Sergey Bessarab, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleg Nemchinov, Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Aleksey Chernyshev, Minister of Health Ilya Yemets and Minister of Finance of Ukraine Igor .
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rada appointed Lieutenant General in the reserve Andriy Taran, and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Dmitry Kulebu.
- RIA News
- © Stringer
Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the work of the old Cabinet, expressed dissatisfaction with the situation with the Ukrainian economy, saying that it "took acceleration, stumbled and runs the risk of driving face-to-face."
In addition, he noted that the government of Goncharuk did not cope with corruption.
In turn, the Verkhovna Rada deputy from the party “Opposition Platform - For Life” Nestor Shufrich called the resignation of Goncharuk a victory for the country's residents and opposition forces. He said that Ukraine “lost six months” with the government of Goncharuk, and the work of the old cabinet made the life of Ukrainians harder.
“At the same time, I pay tribute to (President of Ukraine Vladimir. - RT ) Zelensky, who found the strength in himself to admit the mistake. It’s better to admit a mistake and try to fix it, than to constantly live in a mistake, ”RIA Novosti quotes Shufrich.
Denis Shmygal himself, speaking about the priorities in the work of the Ukrainian government, drew attention to the need to revise the state budget for 2020, pay off salary debts to miners and resist the outbreak of coronavirus.
“I believe that we should revise the state budget for 2020, especially in terms of increasing payments and pensions for ordinary Ukrainians,” said Shmygal during a speech in Parliament.
Director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, Mikhail Pogrebinsky, in a conversation with RT, confirmed that Alexey Goncharuk did not justify Zelensky’s confidence.
“Moreover, we have never had such an unprofessional prime minister. This is a random person, and everyone has long been convinced of this. As for Shmygal, he was not seen in the implementation of any major strategic projects, often changed his place of work. From what he said, his priorities look more reasonable. The question is whether he will be able to realize all this, ”he said.
Commenting on the renewal of the cabinet, Pogrebinsky expressed the opinion that foreign policy “will become the business of the presidential administration”, and therefore it does not matter who will head the country's foreign ministry.
- Alexey Goncharuk
- RIA News
- © Stringer
Vladimir Zelensky against the backdrop of a fall in the rating of power and the impending economic crisis tried to rectify the situation, says Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Analysis and Policy Management. The expert noted that the government of Goncharuk was the shortest full-fledged government in the history of Ukraine.
“Yes, Goncharuk did not live up to Zelensky’s hopes. Moreover, the government began to create a huge number of information and political crises. It was unable to achieve the goals set by the president; it was quite independent. All this led to such a quick resignation, ”he explained.
The appointment of Shmygal, according to the expert, was a serious political turn, which “will give Zelensky a win both in ratings and in time.”
“He is focused on domestic oligarchs, he is competent. For some time the society will look closely at the new government and there will be a certain respite for the authorities regarding informational public pressure, ”Bortnik concluded.
In turn, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, Sergei Tsekov, expressed the opinion that Shmygal is a “weak figure” without serious management experience.
“Perhaps because of this Zelensky chose him so that there would be no competition. Yes, he is a financier, worked in some presidential and near-presidential structures. But we can’t say that he is an experienced manager, he passed some steps in the executive branch. One gets the feeling that he often changed jobs. It is difficult to say whether Denis Shmygal will be able to change the situation in Ukraine for the better. By and large, this cannot be done at all, because the current president, Vladimir Zelensky, has a motley and inexperienced team, ”said the senator.