The Verkhovna Rada has appointed a new Cabinet of Ministers headed by Serhiy Koretsky. A total of 264 members of parliament voted in favour of the decision.
The nominees were presented before the vote by newly appointed Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky. Parliament is expected to appoint the ministers of foreign affairs and defence separately at a later date.
The new Cabinet includes:
- Denys Shmyhal — First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy;
- Tetiana Berezhna — Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture;
- Vsevolod Chentsov — Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration;
- Vitaliy Bezgin — Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons;
- Matvii Bidnyi — Minister of Youth and Sports;
- Andrii Butenko — Minister of Education and Science;
- Ivan Vyhivskyi — Minister of Internal Affairs;
- Taras Vysotskyi — Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food;
- Mykola Kalashnyk — Minister for Reconstruction, Infrastructure and Transport;
- Vitaliy Kim — Minister for Veterans’ Affairs;
- Oleksandr Kravchenko — Minister of Economy and Environment;
- Viktor Liashko — Minister of Health;
- Serhiy Marchenko — Minister of Finance;
- Denys Maslov — Minister of Justice;
- Denys Uliutin — Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity;
- Oksana Ferchuk — Minister of Digital Transformation.
Who remained in government
Denys Shmyhal, Tetiana Berezhna, Matvii Bidnyi, Viktor Liashko, Serhiy Marchenko and Denys Uliutin retained their posts or continued serving in the government.
Andrii Sybiha is also expected to remain foreign minister, although the Verkhovna Rada will consider his appointment separately.
Who joined the Cabinet
The new members of the Cabinet are Vsevolod Chentsov, Vitaliy Bezgin, Andrii Butenko, Ivan Vyhivskyi, Taras Vysotskyi, Mykola Kalashnyk, Vitaliy Kim, Oleksandr Kravchenko, Denys Maslov and Oksana Ferchuk.
Former National Police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi took over the Interior Ministry, replacing Ihor Klymenko. Mykola Kalashnyk joined the government after serving as head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, while former deputy defence minister for digital development Oksana Ferchuk was appointed to lead the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Mykhailo Fedorov’s dismissal
One of the main controversies surrounding the formation of the new Cabinet was Mykhailo Fedorov’s dismissal as defence minister. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision was prompted by a lack of effective communication between the Ministry of Defence and the army leadership.
According to Zelensky, the two sides failed to achieve unity and would not sit down for talks without his personal involvement. The President stressed that the Defence Ministry and the military leadership must cooperate independently on a daily basis.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, serious disagreements arose between Fedorov’s team and the General Staff over procurement, resource allocation, digitalisation and approaches to military planning. The publication reported that the dispute between the defence minister and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi was one of the main reasons behind the President’s personnel decision.
The Verkhovna Rada is expected to consider the nomination of a new defence minister separately.
