Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Monday that he had asked Yuliia Svyrydenko to become the new prime minister.
“I have proposed that Yuliia Svyrydenko lead the government of Ukraine and significantly renew its work. I look forward to the presentation of the new government’s action plan in the near future,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Yuliia Svyrydenko is currently Ukraine’s economy minister, with her role becoming especially prominent in the media this year because of the mineral deal that eventually came to be signed by the US and Ukraine.
A televised spat between the leaders of the US and Ukraine in Washington had ended discussions on the deal in February, when the agreement was originally meant to be signed.
But Svyrydenko has been credited as the person to have traveled to Washington shortly after the spat to get the job done.
Why has Ukraine chosen to have a new prime minister?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been eyeing changes to his cabinet as Ukraine continues to try and fend off Russian forces for the fourth year of war.
Zelenskyy last week announced during a gathering of leaders in Rome that he was considering replacing his current ambassador to the US.
“We need a person (as US ambassador) to be strong and to be in the context of the most important thing, in the context of strengthening Ukraine — through weapons, first of all. Therefore, one of my ideas is that it can be Ukraine’s defense minister.”
But other names have also been floated for the job for the country’s next ambassador to the US as well, and a final decision is pending.
What else do we know about Svyrydenko?
Svyrydenko is 39 years old and has held a number of posts in the state administration of Chernihiv region in the north, where she was born.
She then quickly rose through the ranks and became deputy head of the presidential office, and in 2021, became the economy minister and deputy prime minister.
Svyrydenko would replace incumbent Denys Shmyhal, who was appointed as the country’s prime minister in 2020.
Her candidacy would still have to be approved by Ukraine’s parliament before she can step into the role.
Once approved, she would become Ukraine’s second female prime minister after Yulia Tymoshenko, who led the country in the years after the 2004 Orange Revolution.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
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