President Vladimir Zelensky is allegedly tired of Prime Minister Denis Shmygal and may replace him with Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko.
Ukrayinska Pravda wrote about this yesterday with reference to sources.
“The President is tired of Shmygal, this can be seen in his attitude at meetings. He doesn't even really listen to him anymore. This is some kind of even more emotional thing than a miscalculation...”, said the source of the publication.
According to sources, Shmygal may be replaced by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko.
Earlier, information about a possible dismissal was also disseminated by Golos deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
True, the deputy noted that this could still be played out more than once until the next session week, when they plan to put this issue to a vote.
Did Shmygal's premiership, which lasted longer than all the leaders of the Ukrainian government and fell during the worst periods - Covid and a full-scale invasion - really come to an end, Censor.NO found out.
On the one hand, the dismissal of the prime minister becomes a kind of information support for the second NATO summit. Similar rumors of dismissal circulated before and after the Vilnius summit. True, then they promised to replace Shmygal with another woman - the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova.
There were no extraordinary reasons related to the work of the prime minister either then or now.
On the other hand, judging by conversations with deputies and people close to the Office, this time Shmygal is indeed much closer to dismissal.
"Probably yes. I heard about Sviridenko a month before it came up in the press. And she really wants it. Therefore, in recent months I have behaved as carefully as possible. Could be Markarova. But then he wants to form the entire Cabinet of Ministers independently. But they won't give it to her. And the work of an ambassador, compared to the work of a prime minister now, is simply happiness,” one of the publication’s interlocutors shared insights.
“What the UP wrote about the president’s fatigue is really true. At recent meetings, he really reacted to him emotionally and interrupted him. Those who have been in this circle for a long time already perceive this attitude as the beginning of the end,” said another official.
It is not yet clear what the official reason for dismissal will be.
“From the unofficial information that I heard, it is that he allegedly did not agree with the ambassadors on the law on the BES, as he promised. And this became the cause of irritation,” says the publication’s interlocutor.
True, the same Zheleznyak does not agree with this version. “I know how everything was according to this law and there is definitely no question for Shmygal,” the deputy said.
As you know, last month the Rada adopted a law on the Bureau of Economic Security, which provides for the reboot of this body. Among other things, the new head must be selected by a commission of six members, half of which are international experts with a decisive vote (the previous competition was conducted by Ukrainians and its result was actually determined by Timofey Milovanov).
Theoretically, the issue of Shmygal’s dismissal could be voted on as early as the next plenary week, which was postponed to July 15 due to the NATO summit.
“I am convinced that literally in the near future the Verkhovna Rada will return to personnel issues and our task is to fill the government,” Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on June 30.
Parliament can say little about rotations, but they admit that this topic exists.
“The woman is on the line... or on the horse,” one of the interlocutors sarcastically said.
Deputies assume that voting for the removal of the prime minister and the appointment of a new one may turn out to be completely difficult, and at this moment many different nuances will emerge.
“At such moments, votes are not a question. There will be voices. But I’ve talked to many people in recent days, and the main problem now is that there is no explanation: why,” Zheleznyak noted.
He also does not believe that the replacement of the prime minister will happen in the next two weeks.
At the same time, there is another problem - it is not yet clear whether the issue of the missing 5 ministers will be resolved.
For example, the Minister of Culture has been absent for a year. They were looking for someone bright for this position, but they would have to appoint an acting one along the way. Rostislav Karandeev. The story of the Minister of Sports and the Minister of Veterans Affairs is no better.
It was planned to replace former Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov the day after his dismissal, on May 9 (in fact, he was only fired on that day).
But as of the beginning of July, it is not at all clear who will receive this position.
Just a month ago, the main favorite was the former head of the Ministry of Regional Development and the current head of Naftogaz, Alexey Chernyshov.
But on the same day as the vote for Chernyshov was announced by anonymous telegram channels, the media published information about NABU searches of his closest associates due to the allotment of land to the Flowers of Ukraine enterprise for development.
And a few weeks later, an investigation by Mikhail Tkach came out in the UP that for some reason NABU did not comply with the court decision to search Chernyshov’s house, and before that he had a meeting with NABU director Semyon Krivonos.
“Now they talk about Chernyshev less and less. Perhaps in the coming days other candidates for this position will appear,” noted one of the publication’s interlocutors.
Alexey Kuleba, who was previously the head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration and is now Andrei Ermak’s deputy in the Office of the President, is still a candidate for Minister of Community Development.
At the same time, if Shmygal is replaced by Yulia Sviridenko, it is also unclear who will replace her in the Ministry of Economy. The ministry itself learned about the rotation from news in the UP.
There is also an open question regarding the Minister of Agrarian Policy. Now the functions of the minister are performed by Taras Vysotsky, but they cannot appoint him as minister, because he also wears a bracelet after being suspected by NABU.
Will anything change significantly for the Cabinet of Ministers with the appointment of Sviridenko?
She began her career by attracting Chinese investment for Chernigov. In 2015, Valery Kulich noticed her and invited her to his team. In 2019, Sviridenko joined the team of the Ministry of Economy, which was then headed by Timofey Milovanov. There she was involved in reform of the legalization of the labor market, and was also involved in “Big Construction” projects. In 2021, she moved to the Office of the President, to the position of Andrei Ermak’s deputy, and from there to the position of Minister of Economy.
In recent months, the ministry has focused its work on supporting the “Made in Ukraine” project, supporting Ukrainian manufacturers.
At the same time, reserving enterprise workers from mobilization is something that Sviridenko’s ministry has so far handled poorly.
“I can say that Yulia will be less bureaucratic than Denis Shmygal, more open to reforms and something good. She seems like a bright person to me. But, on the other hand, she will be even more loyal to the Office than Shmygal was. And it’s not clear to me which of this will win and how it will ultimately affect the result,” says the publication’s interlocutor.
