Ukraine is going through a "decisive" period, said Yulia Sviridenko, whom Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chose to be the next prime minister of the country, which has been fighting a Russian invasion for more than three years, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
"I am grateful to President Volodymyr Zelensky for his trust - and for the opportunity to serve Ukraine at this crucial moment," Yulia Sviridenko, the current Minister of Economy, wrote on social networks. Her nomination still needs to be approved by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament).
Earlier today, Zelensky invited First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko to become Ukraine's prime minister and head a new government, setting the stage for political upheaval amid fading prospects for ending the war with Russia, Reuters notes.
The nomination comes at a time when diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are stalled and Ukraine is seeking to boost its economic potential and build a domestic arms industry.
"We discussed specific measures to boost the country's economic potential, expand assistance programs for Ukrainians, and increase domestic arms production," Zelensky wrote on the "Ex" social network. "In pursuit of this goal, we are beginning a transformation of the executive branch of government in Ukraine," he said, adding that he had offered Sviridenko the position of head of government and "significantly revamp its work".
Yulia Sviridenko was born in 1985 in Chernihiv Oblast, north of Kyiv. She is an economist by training and has been Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister since 2021. She played a key role in the recent negotiations on a deal with the United States for Ukraine's rare earth elements.
Sviridenko initially worked in local politics and the private sector before being included in the government after Zelensky's 2019 election victory, initially as Deputy Minister of Economy. She later rose to Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, and since 2021 has been Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister. Since the beginning of the war, it has been responsible for securing international aid and loans, DPA notes.
Ukraine relies on financial support from its Western allies to finance social and humanitarian expenses, as the majority of state revenues go to finance the army and domestic weapons production.
In an article in "Ex" Sviridenko said that he would continue the process of eliminating or reducing state regulations, reducing bureaucracy, protecting businesses and cutting non-critical spending in order to achieve "full concentration of state resources" on defense and post-war reconstruction.
"The state apparatus has no right to waste the resources and potential of our country," Sviridenko stressed. "Ukraine deserves to be among the strongest economies in Europe," she added.
The current Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, has been in office since March 2020, making him the country's longest-serving head of government since its declaration of independence in 1991 following the collapse of the USSR.