Venedyktova approved as prosecutor general, Petrashko as agrarian minister

Ukraine’s parliament approved at its Mar. 17 special
session Iryna Venedyktova as the new prosecutor general. Her nomination drew
269 votes (compared to 226 needed), with the only faction supporting her
candidacy being the pro-presidential People’s Servant. Most recently, she
served as the acting director of the State Bureau of Investigations. After
getting elected to parliament with The People’s Servant political party last
year, she was appointed as head of the legal policy parliamentary committee in
August. Venedyktova spent most of her career in academia, with limited
arbitration experience and no apparent Western education or work.

Ihor Petrashko, the deputy CEO at Ukrlandfarming
(UKRLAN), was approved as minister of economic development, trade and
agriculture at the same session. He previously worked as an executive in
Sberbank CIB and Troika Dialog Ukraine. His nomination drew 243 votes, with the
only supporting faction being The People’s Servant.

Zenon Zawada: The
appointment of an agri-business executive to this position – which combines the
previously separate economy and agrarian minister posts – implies the planned
October launch of the farmland market will proceed as scheduled. Petrashko will
likely oversee this process and work closely with Zelensky and PM Denys
Shmyhal.

Venedyktova’s resume has no indication of any
ability or desire to engage in meaningful criminal prosecutions, structural
reforms or anti-corruption efforts. Quite the contrary she drew much criticism
for appointing in mid-January a defense attorney for former President
Yanukovych as one of her deputies. Venedyktova was selected exclusively based
on her loyalty to President Zelensky, having been a part of his political team
from the very start.