New Rada approves Cabinet and key officials, removes political immunity for MPs

Ukraine’s newly elected parliament convened on Aug. 29
with its most noteworthy legislative accomplishment being the approval of a
bill amending the Constitution to remove political immunity from members of
parliament. The measure, which would take effect on Jan. 1, drew 363 votes in
favor in the first reading. Parliament didn’t vote for any other constitutional
amendments or the slew of legislation that had been promised in recent days,
instead voting for 58 bills to be sent for committee review, as reported by its
website.

 

In his address to parliament, President Zelensky
called for the newly elected MPs “to shift into fifth gear” on the road to
change, warning them he will exercise his authority to dismiss the legislative
body if it fails to produce results. “God forbid you will go down in history as
the parliament that existed the shortest: one year. This is your trial period. It’s
not so scary to dismiss parliament,” Zelensky said. As his legislative
priorities, Zelensky identified decentralization and Euro-integration;
liberalizing the economy; creating a “powerful investment magnet for attracting
foreign investment;” building a digital government in a SmartPhone; eliminating
the hellish bureaucracy; eliminating corporate raids, monopoly, and contraband;
and creating energy independence. “And the main thing, strengthening national
security and defense, ending the war in Donbas, and returning Crimea annexed by
the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.

 

As expected, parliament approved the Cabinet of
Ministers and the leadership of its committees. Ruslan Riaboshapka, who built
his career in the Justice Ministry, was elected as the new prosecutor general.
President Zelensky’s close and longtime confidante, Ivan Bakanov, was elected
as head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The new ministers, committee
heads and faction heads are as follows:

 

Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk

Vice Prime Minister for Euro-Integration Dmytro Kuleba

Vice Prime Minister for Digital Transformation
Mykhaylo Fedorov

Minister for the Cabinet of Ministers Dmytro Dubilet

Finance Minister Oksana Markarova

Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Minister
Tymofiy Mylovanov

Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy

Energy and Environmental Defense Minister Oleksiy
Orzhel

Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk

Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov

Foreign Affairs Minister Vadym Prystayko

Health Minister Zoriana Skaletska

Education Minister Hanna Novosad

Justice Minister Denys Maliuska

Social Policy Minister Yulia Sokolovska

Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Volodymyr
Borodianskiy

Veterans, Temporarily Occupied Territories and
Internally Displaced Persons Minister Oksana Koliada

Community and Territory Development Minister Alyona
Babak

 

Parliamentary Head Dmytro Razumkov

First Deputy Parliamentary Head Ruslan Stefanchuk

Deputy Parliamentary Head Olena Kondratiuk

Anti-Corruption Policy Committee Head Anastasia
Krasnosilska

Agrarian Policy and Land Policy Committee Head Mykola
Solskiy

Budget Committee Head Yuriy Aristov

Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee Head
Oleksandr Tkachenko

Ecological Policy and Nature Use Committee Head Oleh
Bondarenko

Economic Development Committee Head Dmytro Natalukha

Energy and Public Maintenance Committee Head Andriy
Gerus

Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance
Committee Head Mykhaylo Radutskiy

Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation
Committee Head Bohdan Yaremenko

European Integration Committee Head Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze

Finances, Tax and Customs Policy Committee Head Danylo
Hetmantsev

Education, Science and Innovations Committee Head
Serhiy Babak

Human Rights Committee Head Dmytro Lubinets

Digital Transformation Committee Head Mykhaylo
Kriachko

Legal Policy Committee Head Iryna Venediktova

Law Enforcement Committee Head Denys Monastyrskiy

Transport and Infrastructure Committee Head Yuriy
Kysil

Local Governance and Regional Development Committee
Head Andriy Klochko

National Security, Defense and Intelligence Head
Oleksandr Zavitnevych

Freedom of Speech Committee Head Nestor Shufrych

Social Policy and Veterans Rights Committee Head
Halyna Tretiakova

Youth and Sports Committee Head Andriy Kozhemiakin

Rules Committee Head Serhiy Kalchenko

 

The People’s Servant (254 MPs) Faction Head David
Arakhamia

Opposition Platform For Life (44 MPs) Faction Co-Heads
Yuriy Boyko, Vadym Rabinovych

European Solidarity (27 MPs) Faction Co-Heads Artur
Herasymov and Iryna Herashchenko

Fatherland (25 MPs) Faction Head Yulia Tymoshenko

Voice (17 MPs) Faction Head Serhiy Rakhmanin

For the Future (23 MPs) Group Co-Heads Viktor Bondar,
Taras Batenko

 

Zenon Zawada: The key
appointments were widely expected and we offered our assessments. Among those
not covered, the foreign policy leaders (Kuleba as Euro-integration deputy
prime minister and Vadym Prystayko as foreign minister) confirm that President
Zelensky is fully committed to Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. Normally,
we wouldn’t pay much attention to who will lead the Cabinet’s work. But Dmytro
Dubilet is the son of Oleksandr Dubilet, who was the board chairman of
Privatbank when it was owned by billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky. (Dmytro Dubilet
himself was a board member.) This further confirms Kolomoisky’s influence on
President Zelensky in his new status as Ukraine’s top oligarch.

 

Andriy Zahorodniuk led volunteer efforts during the
warfare in Donbas. Given that the defense minister position is more
concentrated on procurement issues rather than military strategy, we view his
appointment as a genuine attempt to weed out corruption in this sphere. It’s
worth noting that Mykhaylo Radutskiy, the parliamentary health committee head,
is the founder of the Borys medical network in Kyiv, which he sold in recent
weeks to the Dobrobut medical network (controlled by Concorde Capital).
Radutskiy also endorsed the appointment of Zoriana Skaletska as health minister.
Former Concorde Capital Executive Director Andriy Gerus will lead the
parliamentary energy and public maintenance committee.

 

Though criticized for “hogging” most of the committees
(19 out of 23), it’s impressive to see The People’s Servant faction offer the
heads of a few key parliamentary committees to both the pro-Western and
pro-Russian opposition. Namely, Klympush-Tsintsadze of the European Solidarity
party (led by former President Poroshenko) will lead the euro-integration
committee, while Nestor Shufrych of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform
committee will lead the freedom of speech committee.

 

Shufrych’s appointment has drawn much criticism,
considering a member of his parliamentary faction, Viktor Medvedchuk, is not
only a close confidante to Russian President Putin, but also controls two
influential Ukrainian television networks. Moreover, freedom of speech is
highly restricted in Russia, the country that Shufrych and his faction want to
integrate with. Yet on the positive side, this gesture demonstrates Zelensky’s
willingness to have dialogue with Russian-oriented Ukrainians and that he is
not threatened by them. It also shows that he is confident enough in the
effectiveness of his government’s Western-oriented policies that they will
outweigh any pro-Russian narratives and propaganda being promoted by
pro-Russian politicians like Shufrych and his faction colleagues.

 

As for the controversial Internal Affairs Minister
Arsen Avakov, People’s Servant Faction Head David Arakhamia assured the public
that he would remain only for a transition period of about six months.
Nonetheless, his remaining not only confirms Kolomoisky’s considerable
influence on the government, but offers evidence that the neophyte reformers
have already begun to engage in backroom dealings. That’s always the case in
politics. It’s just not clear to what extent the idealistic reformers will
become enmeshed in opaque political agreements.