UP: Koretskyi is the first prime minister personally chosen by Zelenskyy

Ukrainska Pravda has learned that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent a long time observing Serhii Koretskyi's work before personally selecting him as prime minister.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda article (English translation to be available soon)

Quote: "Koretskyi's appointment is perhaps the first clear indication of a development that many in government circles had been anticipating with some apprehension: the president has begun choosing people himself, without relying on anyone's recommendations.

Andrii Bohdan brought Oleksii Honcharuk into Zelenskyy's team. Denys Shmyhal was the prime minister backed by the head of the presidential faction, Davyd Arakhamiia. Yuliia Svyrydenko became prime minister thanks to Yermak's active support. Koretskyi is the first person to hold the post whom Zelenskyy chose himself."

Details: A senior member of the presidential team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the appointment was entirely Zelenskyy's decision. According to the source, the president and first lady have recently been working with several promising young public-sector managers on various projects, using the collaboration to assess their performance.

The source said Koretskyi was among those officials whose work Zelenskyy closely monitored, paying particular attention to how he handled challenges, first as head of Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil producer, and later of Naftogaz Group, the country's state-owned oil and gas company, as well as to the decisions he made and the initiatives he proposed.

Another source close to the president told Ukrainska Pravda that Koretskyi was effectively the first prime minister whose appointment was not driven by political patronage. Instead, the source described him as a professional CEO recruited from the private sector and personally selected by the president. The source added that Koretskyi is a technocrat viewed as acceptable across the political spectrum because he is equally distant from all political groups.

The article notes that Koretskyi is the first person to become prime minister without any political background.

It also highlights that the new prime minister has virtually no personal team within the government.

"This is the first purely corporate prime minister. He is coming into government with just one person of his own [the economy minister – ed.], whom he was allowed to bring with him. But when a CEO joins a company, they do not bring along 15 new members of the board of directors. They work with the team that is already there. Their task is to build relationships in such a way that the organisation functions effectively and delivers results," a Ukrainska Pravda source in government explained, describing the new philosophy behind the government's work.

The article examines the main challenges facing Koretskyi's government, the figures expected to wield influence over the new prime minister, and how his strengths and weaknesses may shape his administration.

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