Ukraine may change three ministers this week

Minister of economy and agriculture Ihor Petrashko and
minister of infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy wrote resignation requests to the
parliament on May 14, pravda.com.ua reported. On top of that, the prime
minister filed a request to the parliament to dismiss health minister Maksym
Stepanov. The parliament will likely vote for their dismissal on May 18. The
most likely substitutes in the Cabinet are: Oleksiy Lyubchenko (head of the tax
administration) for economy minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov (head of the state
road administration Ukravtodor) for infrastructure minister and Viktor Lyashko
(chief sanitary doctor and deputy minister) for health minister. According to
comments by David Arakhamia, head of the pro-presidential parliamentary faction
Servant of the People, each of the three candidates agreed to occupy the
positions.

The reasons for Petrashko’s and Krykliy’s resignation
requests are unknown. At the same time, pravda.com.ua wrote that Stepanov has
been asked by the president to write such a request as well, though he took
some time to think about it. According to Arakhamia, Stepanov is blamed for the
poor progress of the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Krykliy was appointed as infrastructure minister to the
Cabinet of PM Oleksiy Honcharuk in August 2019 and was among few ministers who
preserved his position after Denys Shmyhal replaced Honcharuk in March 2020.
Petrashko came to his economy minister position in the new Cabinet of Shmyhal
in March 2020. Stepanov was the second health minister in Shmyhal’s Cabinet,
after Ilya Yemets, who served at this position for less than one month in March
2020.

Alexander Paraschiy: The ministerial reshuffle was likely initiated by president Zelensky
in his attempt to somehow refresh and “strengthen” the Cabinet ahead of his
second anniversary at the position of president (May 20). All three ministry
candidates have proven their efficiency at their current positions, so they indeed look to be the best candidates. However, we doubt the
replacements will improve the efficiency of Shmyhal’s Cabinet, which will
likely become even more loyal to and dependent on the presidential office.