Verkhovna Rada sends government to resign, supporting Denis Shmygal's resignation
The Verkhovna Rada has resigned Prime Minister Shmygal: who will replace him in office and what is behind the personnel reshuffle.
The Ukrainian parliament has dismissed Prime Minister Denys Shmygal by 261 votes. This way, his five-year cadence - the longest among all Ukrainian prime ministers since independence - ended. According to the law, the entire government automatically resigns together with the head of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Officially, Shmygal's resignation took place without any high-profile statements or accusations. However, sources told RBC-Ukraine that the decision was long overdue and had been discussed since last summer. According to the interlocutors, the reasons are complex: public fatigue amid a full-scale war, the need to update the system, as well as internal competition between groups of influence in the country's leadership, particularly in the Office of the President.
An additional catalyst was the scandal surrounding Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Chernyshov, which, according to the sources, accelerated the start of rotations in the government.
Who will replace Shmygal
The main candidate for the post of the head of the government is First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko. Her candidacy has already been supported by President Vladimir Zelenski, who has instructed to form a new government team. Sviridenko is considered a long-time ally of the head of state and one of the key figures in the Cabinet's economic bloc.
New role for Shmygal
Earlier, the possibility of appointing Shmygal as Ukraine's ambassador to the USA was discussed. This idea appeared, among other things, during the phone conversation between the presidents of Ukraine and the USA on 4 July, where the issue of replacing the current ambassador, Oksana Markarova, was raised.
However, the situation has changed in recent days. The president confirmed that Shmygal is planned to be appointed defence minister instead of Rustem Umerov. The latter, in turn, is being considered as a candidate for the post of ambassador to Washington. Thus, Ukraine is preparing for a large-scale rotation in the highest echelons of power, including in the sphere of defence and foreign policy.