Will Ukraine have a new prime minister: MPs reveal the backstage game of Bankova
14 July 2025 17:48
EXCLUSIVE
Since the end of June, Ukrainian politicians have been talking about the resignation of the current Cabinet of Ministers, headed by its head Denys Shmyhal. The most likely candidate for his seat is First Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
Rumors that she would replace Shmyhal as head of the government had been circulating for several weeks. However, all the information was presented at the level of insights and comments by parliamentarians who spoke to journalists on the basis of anonymity.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the reconstruction conference in Rome, where she arrived on July 9, Yulia Svyrydenko herself claimed that she had not received any offers to head the Cabinet.
However, on July 14, an official meeting took place that set the record straight: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed during a business conversation with Yulia Svyrydenko that he saw her as the head of the new government. The goal is to carry out a deep renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers.
“I expect the new government’s action program to be presented in the near future,” Zelensky said.
However, there are several “white spots” in the reformatting of the government. In order for Svyrydenko to become head of the Cabinet and start forming her working team, the current Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal must officially resign. Moreover, there is a possibility that the parliament, contrary to the president’s wishes, will “fail” to vote for the resignation of the current head of the government.
What are the real chances for Denys Shmyhal to finish his career as the head of the Cabinet of Ministers, and for Yulia Svyrydenko to take up a new position?
Who has the right to nominate the prime minister: the position of the Servant of the People
The issue of the possible replacement of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal with Yulia Svyrydenko has caused controversy even within the mono-majority. MP from the Servant of the People faction, Yuriy Kamelchuk, reminded that according to the law, the candidate for prime minister should be proposed by the coalition or faction that forms the majority, not the prime minister himself.
“I do not understand the wording of Shmyhal’s thesis that he proposed Yulia Svyrydenko to head the government,” he said.
Kamelchuk emphasized that Shmyhal remains the current head of the government until the Verkhovna Rada makes a different decision. The parliamentarian also warned that such initiatives undermine the prime minister’s authority at the international level and level the role of the parliament in making key personnel decisions.
The prime minister is thus leveling his position, which diminishes his authority among his international colleagues. And, accordingly, the President’s statement, which was made earlier, levels the role of the Verkhovna Rada. This is not right,” the MP summarized.
The role of the President’s Office: formality or control?
MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn of the Voice faction said that the real decision to replace the head of the government had already been made in the President’s Office.
This means that the replacement of Shmyhal with Svyrydenko has already been decided. The Verkhovna Rada will only formally approve such a decision, as the majority in the parliament is pro-presidential,” he said.
Yurchyshyn noted that there may not be even minimal compliance with formalities in this process: no one is listening to reports or programs. He believes that ignoring such democratic mechanisms only strengthens the centralization of power.
Criticizing the government and predicting resignation: “Batkivshchyna is ready to vote
Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk of the Batkivshchyna party is convinced that the issue of Shmyhal’s resignation is long overdue.
It has been discussed for at least the last four years. There are many claims to the government: from social policy to economic adaptation to the war,” he said.
Tsymbalyuk is confident that the votes to replace the prime minister will be found this week, when the Verkhovna Rada will work in a continuous mode. In his opinion, the political decision has already been made, and now everything depends on the approval of the candidate.
The general tone of the comments of the MPs who spoke to
Legally, the procedure for appointing a new prime minister is not complete. After all, the resignation of the current head of government has not been accepted, and there is no new candidate approved by the coalition. But at the same time, a number of influential politicians are talking about a “resolved issue” and expecting a quick vote in the session hall.
If it takes place without discussing programs and hearing candidates, it will be another confirmation that the real decision-making center is not in the Verkhovna Rada.
Read also: Who is Yulia Svyrydenko: key facts about the likely prime minister
The change of the head of the Ukrainian government: what preceded it
on June 21, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who actively maintains his Telegram channel, posted a message about the possible resignation of the current head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Denys Shmyhal. The parliamentarian expressed confidence that the initiative for such personnel changes comes directly from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I am translating the president’s comment about Shmyhal’s dismissal: I will change him, Shmyhal has not been told yet, because it should happen in the next plenary week (July 2025 – ed.),” Zheleznyak wrote.
A few days later, the media reported that “Shmyhal does not irritate MPs, he has normal relations with all of them, and his resignation was not discussed in the Servant of the People faction.” NV published this conversation with reference to three MPs from the pro-government faction. The journalists spoke to them on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, LIGA.net published a story that the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, was promoting the candidacy of the current head of the Ministry of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to replace Denys Shmyhal.
Media sources in the SN faction reported that it was Yermak who was lobbying Svyrydenko as his proxy. In 2020-2021, the politician worked as his deputy for economic affairs, and in November 2021, she joined Shmyhal’s government.
With this rotation, Yermak wants to “lock in” the government. Denys (Shmyhal – ed.) is not his man. Yermak feels that he has lost in domestic politics while he was busy saving Ukraine abroad. He is not doing enough work in the Office, and that is why Zelenskyy now delegates a lot to Tatarov (Deputy Head of the Office of the President Oleh Tatarov – ed.),” a source from the ruling party told reporters.
He added that Svyrydenko is called “Yulia the second” behind her back in the faction and is compared to politician Yulia Tymoshenko. At the same time, critics accuse the likely candidate for prime minister of poor communication with MPs and failures in economic policy.
Fedir Venislavsky, a member of the National Security Committee, also criticized Yulia Svyrydenko’s candidacy. He said that in any case, the Cabinet she would head would be illegitimate.
“Such a ban on changing the highest state authorities under martial law, from the point of view of the legislator’s logic, was intended to prevent the usurpation of power and abuse of authority,” Venislavsky explained his view.
According to him, in order for the new government to become legitimate, the law defining the legal regime of martial law needs to be amended now,
(It is necessary – ed.) to regulate the possibility of a potential change of government, so as not to formulate some dubiously legitimate decisions in advance. They can then be the basis for further accusations by anyone that the procedure for resignation or appointment of the government has been violated,” the member of the National Security Committee is sure.
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