President Volodymyr Zelensky has named Yulia Svyrydenko as Ukraine’s new prime minister, replacing Denys Shmyhal in the latest cabinet reshuffle. The appointment was confirmed by the Ukrainian parliament on Thursday. Shmyhal will take on the role of defence minister.
Ms Svyrydenko, 39, had been serving as first deputy prime minister and economic development and trade minister since November 2021. She was appointed to revive Ukraine’s struggling economy months before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In her first statement as war-time prime minister, she emphasised swift action, prioritising army supply, domestic weapons production, and technological strength for defence forces.
Ms Svyrydenko gained international attention earlier this year for brokering a minerals deal with the United States, a key demand from the Trump administration to support Kyiv in negotiations with Russia. She led a Ukrainian delegation to Washington, signing the United States-Ukraine Reinvestment Fund on 30 April with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The deal grants the US preferential access to Ukraine’s critical minerals and establishes a reconstruction investment fund funded by 50 per cent of future profits from natural resources.
The agreement helped repair ties between President Zelensky and the Trump administration after a heated exchange at the White House. Ms Svyrydenko described the deal as a milestone, and Ukrainian officials hailed it as a win-win arrangement focusing on investments. She also led the 4th Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome last week, securing agreements worth at least €11bn.
After meeting President Zelensky on Monday, Ms Svyrydenko outlined her plans for deregulation, cutting bureaucracy, protecting businesses, and reducing non-critical expenditure to concentrate state resources on defence and post-war recovery. She stated, “The state apparatus has no right to waste the resources and potential of our country. Ukraine deserves to be among the strongest economies in Europe.”
