New Cabinet to be formed by tonight: who is being appointed? – UP sources

The Ukrainian authorities want to form a new government on 15 July. The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) plans to vote on the new Cabinet of Ministers on Thursday 16 July.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources familiar with the matter; MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak on social media

Details: According to Zhelezniak, Parliament will attempt to appoint all the ministers on Thursday 16 July.

In addition, the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture is to be split into two ministries: Economy and Ecology, and Agrarian Policy, which Zhelezniak says will be headed by current Deputy Minister Taras Vysotskyi.

Oleksii Sobolev will remain Minister of Economy and Ecology.

Ukrainska Pravda sources say that Oleksii Kuleba, Minister of Community and Territory Development, is set to lose his post.

According to Zhelezniak, this ministry will be split into the Ministry of Regional Development, which will be headed by Servant of the People MP Vitalii Bezhin, and the Ministry of Infrastructure.

The new infrastructure minister may be one of the current heads of oblast military administrations – either Kharkiv's Oleh Syniehubov or Kyiv's Mykola Kalashnyk.

Ukrainska Pravda sources have confirmed reports on the splitting of ministries and the intention to vote on the new government on 16 July.

Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal and Health Minister Viktor Liashko will remain in their posts.

The Ministry of Justice will be headed by MP Denys Maslov, who currently chairs the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy.

Education Minister Oksen Lisovyi is set to be replaced.

Decisions on the Defence Ministry, currently headed by Mykhailo Fedorov, and other officials are to be taken this evening.

The likely candidate for Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration is Vsevolod Chentsov, a diplomat serving as Ukraine's representative to the EU. The post is currently held by Taras Kachka.

According to UP sources, Servant of the People MPs are due to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 15 July. Further meetings regarding the Cabinet reshuffle will take place throughout the day.

One Servant of the People party official noted that "the Cabinet lineup will continue to change until the evening of 15 July. Things are still not entirely final."

Background:

• Following a meeting with Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko effectively confirmed she was stepping down as head of the government.
• Four candidates are being considered for prime minister: Serhii Koretskyi, CEO of the Naftogaz Group and director of Ukrnafta; Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal; Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov; and Ihor Terekhov, Mayor of Kharkiv.
• Ukrainska Pravda understands that Zelenskyy has met with Koretskyi and offered him the job of prime minister. Koretskyi responded that he is willing to try.
• On 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada approved Yuliia Svyrydenko's resignation as prime minister, a decision which entails the resignation of the entire government.

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