UWC congratulates new Ukrainian Prime Minister Svyrydenko, thanks Shmyhal for five years of dedication

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) extends its congratulations to Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, on her appointment as the new Ukrainian prime minister and expresses its deep gratitude to outgoing Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal for his five years of committed service in the same role.

Throughout Shmyhal’s tenure, UWC had a strong and productive partnership with his government — from the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation in 2020 to ongoing high-level engagements that aimed at strengthening global support for Ukraine.

In her address to parliament, Prime Minister Svyrydenko said that her government’s top priorities in the first six months will be ensuring adequate military support, ramping up domestic weapons production, and advancing technological innovation in the armed forces. She also pledged robust support for Ukrainian entrepreneurs.

UWC is confident that in his new role as minister of defense, Shmyhal’s leadership and experience will be instrumental in reinforcing Ukraine’s defensive capabilities and advancing its position on the global stage.

The UWC also congratulates all members of the new Cabinet of Ministers and looks forward to continued cooperation with Svyrydenko in advancing Ukraine’s victory, recovery, and global Ukrainian unity.

Ukraine’s legislature, the Verkhovna Rada, approved the former economy minister’s appointment on July 17. She was born in Chernihiv into a family of civil servants. She began her public service career in 2015 in the Chernihiv Regional Administration, rising from adviser to acting governor.

Svyrydenko later served as deputy minister of economy under Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk in 2019, and as Deputy Head of the Presidential Office starting in December 2020. Since November 2021, she has held the dual role of economy minister and first deputy prime minister. 

She also played a key role in the signing of a critical U.S.-Ukraine cooperation agreement on critical minerals in May 2025.

As prime minister, Svyrydenko has formally submitted her proposed Cabinet to parliament. 

Among the key appointments: Mykhailo Fedorov, minister of digital transformation, will serve as first deputy prime minister for innovation. 

Shmyhal has been appointed minister of defense.

The ministries of economy, ecology, and agriculture will merge into a single entity led by Oleksii Sobolev, the former deputy to Svyrydenko.

Taras Kachka will replace Olha Stefanishyna as deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

Stefanishyna will serve as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s special envoy for U.S. cooperation, a role that supports her pending nomination as Ukraine’s new ambassador to the U.S..

The Ministry of Unity will be dissolved, with its mandate to be transferred to a restructured Ministry of Social Policy, Family, and Unity, headed by Denys Uliutin from the Ministry of Finance.

Further changes include: Svitlana Hrynchuk, formerly head of the Ministry of Ecology, will take over the Ministry of Energy. German Galushchenko moves to the role of Minister of Justice.

The Ministry of Culture will temporarily remain without a leader following Mykola Tochytskyi’s departure.

Several key ministers will remain in their posts: Oleksii Kuleba (Deputy PM for Recovery), Andrii Sybiha (Foreign Affairs), Ihor Klymenko (Internal Affairs), Serhii Marchenko (Finance), Nataliia Kalmykova (Veterans Affairs), Viktor Liashko (Health), Matvii Bidnyi (Youth and Sports), and Oksen Lisovyi (Education and Science).