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04.09.24 19:36 22 410 29

Big reshuffle of beds in Cabinet of Ministers: How Surkis saved Kuleba from resignation

A few weeks ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced major personnel changes in the Cabinet of Ministers. The fact that the president did not use the word reboot of the government, many people guessed that Denys Shmyhal managed to hold on to the prime minister’s post.

"Davyd (Arakhamia - ed.) managed to defend Shmyhal," said interlocutors among the majority deputies. As you know, a few months ago there were rumours that Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko might replace him.

Despite the fact that at least 10 people, or 50% of the government, will be rotated, it is unlikely that this will change the situation significantly.

"For some reason, they have the impression that people want changes. And since they can't hold elections and can't fire valuable staff from the Presidential Administration, they decided to shake up the Cabinet," says a source in the majority.

Read more about who will be replaced from the ministers and what it will bring in the Censor.NET article.

Yesterday, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk announced that the resignation letters had been submitted by:

-Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska;

-Minister of Strategic Industry Oleksandr Kamyshyn;

-Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets.

In the evening, they were joined by Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna and Minister of Reintegration of TOT Iryna Vereshchuk. They were also joined by the head of the State Property Fund, Vitalii Koval. And in the morning it became known that Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also wrote a statement.

In fact, many of the rotations were long expected.

For example, rumors that Olha Stefanishyna would replace Denys Maliuska are probably more than a year old.

It was said that Dmytro Kuleba would be dismissed in the spring. And it was predicted that he would be replaced by the former deputy head of the Presidential Office, and before that, the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Andrii Sybiha.

It is quite logical that the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources will be headed by Deputy Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk. The latter worked in this ministry for a very long time until she was ousted by Strilets.

Vitalii Koval, who has shown nothing as head of the SPF, is likely to head the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. As you know, after the NABU served Mykola Solskyi with a suspicion, this ministry was left without a head. There was a version that he would be replaced by his deputy Taras Vysotskyi, but he is also under suspicion from NABU. Although the proceedings are currently suspended.

In addition, the current acting ministers of the Ministry of Sports, Matvii Bidnyi, and the Ministry of Veterans, Oleksandr Porkhun, were finally to be appointed as ministers.

As for the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the candidacy of Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Mykola Tochytskyi suddenly emerged instead of Rostyslav Karandieiev.

On Monday evening, the president himself explained the changes:

"I also expect a slightly different impact on certain areas of our foreign and domestic policy. First, we need more interaction between the central government and communities. Especially now, in preparation for the winter season. Secondly, Ukraine has already achieved significant results in defense production," Zelenskyy said.

The third area, the president said, is to strengthen cooperation with NATO. According to Zelenskyy, this requires special interaction. The fourth direction is the European Union and real membership negotiations, preparation of the relevant parts of the future membership agreement.

"This is a very clear legal and political job at the same time. There will be personal responsibility for it. And fifth, we need to combine everything that Ukraine has achieved in its relations with partners - trust in Ukraine, the strength of the Ukrainian spirit, relations with partners - with the tasks that our state faces in countering Russian propaganda and protecting Ukrainian cultural heritage. We need a new level of information work, cultural and diplomatic. And a new level of relations with the global Ukrainian community. Now is the time to give new strength to the governmental institutions of Ukraine, and I am grateful to everyone who will help," the President emphasized.

In fact, the last paragraph should explain why Tochytskyi, a former consul in San Francisco, is being chosen for the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. In addition to being a classmate of Andrii Yermak, Tochytskyi has worked for a long time in various diplomatic institutions, including the Belgian embassy and was Ukraine's representative to the European Atomic Energy Community. The members of the Verkhovna Rada's relevant committee have never had any professional contact with Tochytskyi.

Olha Stefanishyna's main task is obviously negotiations with the European Union. Currently, every second bill in the Rada is related to European integration. But it is unclear whether the fact that she will also head the Ministry of Justice will make her work more effective.

The transfer of Oleksandr Kamyshyn from the Ministry of Strategic Industries to the Presidential Office is quite unexpected. Although Kamyshyn has long been in good standing with the president himself. Therefore, he will now be a strategic advisor (at least that's what his colleagues and People's Deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak wrote).

Judging by the president's quotes, Kamyshyn will have a new mission: to find money for weapons, because Ukrainians have learned how to make them, but the missile program will soon stop due to lack of money. As well as many other things.

In principle, most deputies agreed off the record that the above-mentioned rotations will only strengthen Andrii Yermak, because two more of his people will become ministers, and "now all international relations will be only in the phone of the head of the OP."

At the same time, the fate of one of the most important ministries will remain uncertain. Namely, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development. A candidate to replace Kubrakov has not been found since 9 May. Kamyshyn was previously considered for this position, but he rejected this cross between a giraffe and a rhinoceros. The head of the Ministry of Strategic Industries advocated their separation, but understood that this process could take more than six months.

For a good six months now, only the candidacy of Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Head of the OP, has been discussed at the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development. But there is another problem here. As People`s Deputies joke, he has nowhere to sit down because Kubrakov has given away buildings.

Despite this total uncertainty, there is a possibility that the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine will be merged with the announced "Ministry of Happiness," i.e., the Ministry of Unity. But this is not yet certain. Another option was the appointment of Mariia Mezentseva as Minister of Unity. Moreover, on Wednesday, the Rada failed to approve the resignation of Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

And here we come to the most interesting point, to what extent the president can count on his faction today.

On September 4, the Rada was supposed to consider only resignations. First, in committees. Most of them mechanically fulfilled their function. Only the Committee on European Integration tried to show some kind of subjectivity.

But then something not very exactable began.

The Rada failed to dismiss the head of the State Property Fund, Koval. The official position is that the deputies refused to dismiss him without a report (at that time, only Kamyshyn was in the room).

Photo: I. Herashchenko

However, this was not the key to Kravets' fate. It was the fact that the so-called Pavliuk group pulled out their cards and refused to vote because they wanted another minister.

Kamyshyn was fired because he had a report. Even if it was a short one. Holos added 5 votes for the resignation after negotiations on the back row.

Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska was dismissed to thunderous applause (OPFL also voted for his dismissal). The shooter was simply fired.

Stefanishyna was also dismissed to be reappointed tomorrow (also with the votes of the OPFL).

But the system failed again in the case of Vereshchuk. Only 214 votes. There are several reasons for this.

"First, she is almost the only minister who answers the phone from deputies. Therefore, there is human loyalty. She told the committee that she was forced to write the statement. But here, the deputies also had an instinct for self-preservation, because if the ministry is destroyed, the committee must be removed as well. That's why they didn't vote," says the source in the parliament.

The last vote was supposed to be on the resignation of Foreign Minister Kuleba. But at that moment, the Rada urgently adjourned.

"Everyone understands that Dima was milked, and the committee did not want to support his resignation. Plus, there was a tricky moment. There might not have been enough votes, and since this was the last personnel issue, 12 OPFL deputies had already left the hall by that time. Because today is Surkis' (Hryhorii - ed.) birthday. Therefore, mobilization has been announced for tomorrow," said one of the deputies.