Aivaras Abromavicius was appointed on June 12 by the
President Zelensky to serve as a member of the supervisory board of
Ukroboronprom, Ukraine’s state defense contractor that had been mired in
scandal throughout the Poroshenko administration. Abromavicius built his career
in investment banking before being appointed to serve as Ukraine’s economic
development and trade minister in December 2014. He resigned the post in
February 2016, setting off a crisis in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister
Arseney Yatsenyuk that eventually led to his ouster.
Zenon Zawada: This is
another positive appointment by Zelensky. As economic development minister, he
is credited with reforming state enterprises by introducing a new CEO selection
process. He is also credited with forming the first independent board of
directors at Naftogaz of Ukraine, Ukraine’s state natural gas production and
transit company.