New ministerial appointments: NV reveals potential government leaders

On Sept. 4, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed several Ukrainian ministers, including Oleksandr Kamyshin as Minister for Strategic Industries, Olha Stefanishyna as Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Denys Malyuska as Minister of Justice, and Ruslan Strilets as Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.

However, deputies did not have enough votes to remove Vitaliy Koval from his role as head of the State Property Fund or Iryna Vereshchuk from her position as Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

The resignation of Dmytro Kuleba as Minister of Foreign Affairs is still under consideration.

As of 11:25 a.m., Servant of the People faction head David Arakhamia announced potential candidates for the vacant positions, including Andriy Sybiha for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Herman Smetanin for the Ministry of Strategic Industries, Nataliya Kalmykova for the Ministry of Veteran Affairs, and others.

Olha Stefanishyna

Olha Stefanishyna, formerly Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, will now lead the Ministry of Justice, replacing Denys Malyuska.

She will also continue as Deputy Prime Minister and oversee European integration efforts. Stefanishyna, a member of the Servant of the People party and the National Security Council, has been involved in European integration since 2007.

She has worked in various roles related to European integration, including with the State Department for Legislation Adaptation and the Ministry of Justice, and has managed the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration since 2017.

Andriy Sybiha

Sources tell NV that Andriy Sybiha, currently the first deputy and a recent appointee to that role in April 2024, is being considered for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Dmytro Kuleba.

Sybiha, who previously served as deputy head of the President's Office for three years handling foreign policy and strategic partnerships, has extensive diplomatic experience.

He has been Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey, director of the Foreign Ministry Consular Service Department, and deputy director of the Foreign Ministry Contractual and Legal Department.

Sybiha has also served as an adviser at the Ukrainian Embassy in Poland and led various international legal cooperation efforts.

Mykola Tochytskyi

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy may soon have a permanent head, as Mykola Tochytskyi, the current deputy head of the President's Office, is being considered for the position.

For over a year, Acting Minister Rostyslav Karandeev has been managing the ministry's work.

Tochytskyi, a familiar figure in government, previously served as Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2024, participating in negotiations with Russia in Istanbul and Bialowieza Forest. He was also involved in discussions on security guarantees for Ukraine.

From 2016 to 2021, Tochytskyi represented Ukraine at the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, served as Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, and worked as a permanent representative at the Council of Europe.

His past roles include head of the Main Service for International Cooperation of the Presidential Secretariat, consul general in San Francisco, head of the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and director of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Oleksiy Kuleba

Oleksiy Kuleba is set to head the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

Currently serving as Deputy Head of the Office of the President since 2023, Kuleba previously worked for two years in the Kyiv Regional State Administration and served as the first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, overseeing self-governing powers and directing the Department of Urban Development for the Kyiv City Council.

His background includes roles as director of Asper Estate LLC, adviser to the general director of KP Pleso, assistant to a Kyiv City Council deputy, and deputy of the Rzhyshchiv City Council.

Vitaliy Koval

Vitaliy Koval, head of the State Property Fund since 2023, is likely to become the new Minister of Agrarian Policy. Koval has focused his political career in the Rivne region, leading the Rivne Regional State Administration since 2019 and the Rivne Regional Military Administration since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

In 2020, he ran for mayor of Rivne as a Servant of the People candidate, finishing third, and was subsequently elected to the Rivne City Council.

Matviy Bidnyi

Sports official and bodybuilder Matviy Bidnyi, who has been serving as acting Minister of Youth and Sports since 2023, is set to officially assume the role. Previously, Bidnyi was the deputy minister of youth and sports for three years and served as director of the department of physical culture and non-Olympic sports from 2016 to 2020.

From 2011 to 2016, Bidnyi held managerial positions at various companies, including SE "ISTFRAHT," LLC "FirmaIST," and LLC "Legal Company Setra." He also worked as an assistant to Andriy Portnov, a prominent official during Yanukovych's administration, who was a deputy in the Verkhovna Rada from BYuT.

Bidnyi's father-in-law, Hryhoriy Dashutin, a pro-Russian politician from the Party of Regions, has faced accusations of aiding Russia through his company, which allegedly supplied military products to Russia since 2014. Bidnyi has stated that he does not intend to be held responsible for his father-in-law's actions.

Oleksandr Porhun

Oleksandr Porhun, a retired major, Hero of Ukraine, and former commander of the 13th Separate Airmobile Battalion of the 95th Brigade, is expected to head the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. Porhun has been involved in combatting Russian aggression since 2014, participating in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Porhun has served as the acting Minister of Veterans Affairs this year and was the first deputy minister from 2020.

Svitlana Hrynchuk

Svitlana Hrynchuk is expected to be appointed as the head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources. She has been serving as Deputy Minister of Energy since 2023.

Previously, Hrynchuk worked at the Ministry of Environment for nearly a year as deputy minister for European integration, where she handled climate change, European integration, sustainable development, energy efficiency, and climate finance.

She also served as an adviser on public foundations for the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Two candidates for the Ministry of Strategy and Industry

Serhiy Boev and Herman Smetanin are potential candidates to lead the Ministry of Strategic Industries.

Serhiy Boev

Boev, who became deputy minister last year and previously advised the minister's office, led strategy and business development at Naftogaz Ukraine from 2018 to 2022.

Prior to that, he was business development director at Ukrgazvydobuvannya for two years.

Herman Smetanin

Smetanin, with nine years in the defense industry, has been general director of Ukrainian Defense Industry Joint-Stock Company since 2023, doubling its weapon and equipment production.

Previously, he led the Malyshev plant in Kharkiv as both production director and general director, and has also served as director of SE Kharkiv Armored Plant and chief designer and chief engineer at Lviv Armored Plant.