Марія БровінськаThat's Life
13 July 2026, 08:01
2026-07-13
Ukraine is rebooting the government again: who will head the Cabinet of Ministers and will the head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs change?
On July 12, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the preparation of a large-scale renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers and the leadership of law enforcement agencies. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is leaving her post; according to the president, he suggested that she head «a new significant direction in relations with a key partner» — according to unofficial data, this is the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. What is known about the announced changes — below.
On July 12, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the preparation of a large-scale renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers and the leadership of law enforcement agencies. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is leaving her post; according to the president, he suggested that she head «a new significant direction in relations with a key partner» — according to unofficial data, this is the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. What is known about the announced changes — below.
This is the second change of prime minister during the full-scale invasion. In July 2025, Denys Shmyhal (who had been in office since March 2020, i.e. before and after the invasion) resigned after 5 years in office, and was replaced by Yulia Svyrydenko.
During the full-scale invasion, 18 ministers lost their positions, and 16 were appointed instead.
The largest single wave of resignations occurred on September 4–5, 2022, when the parliament simultaneously changed the heads of 11 out of 20 ministries — six were dismissed and nine were appointed.
Some ministries changed heads particularly frequently: for example, the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Community Development — six times each per convocation of the Council (since 2019, that is, partially even before the war).
There were also several high-profile resignations due to scandals — for example, that of Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in September 2023 amid corruption allegations in the Ministry of Defense.
Who can head the Cabinet of Ministers?
The main candidate for the post of prime minister is called Serhiy Koretsky, the chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine — it was he who Zelensky spoke with immediately after his conversation with Svyrydenko. Other names in the media include First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, and some sources also mention Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. However, a decision has not yet been made.
The fact that people with experience in the energy sector are among the favorites is associated with preparations for the heating season: this year, the Cabinet of Ministers wants to strengthen the direction of protecting critical infrastructure from Russian attacks before winter.
What will happen to the current government?
During martial law, the resignation of the Prime Minister automatically entails the resignation of the entire Cabinet of Ministers — the ministers are transferred to the status of acting ministers until the approval of the new government by the Verkhovna Rada. The vote on Svyrydenko’s dismissal could take place as early as July 13-14, but the appointment of a new Prime Minister and the approval of the government are separate procedures that will not necessarily take place in the same week. Denys Shmyhal will likely act as acting Prime Minister.
The president personally nominates the defense minister and foreign minister, while the rest of the government is proposed by the new prime minister.
This is the second large-scale government restart during a full-scale war: the previous one took place exactly a year ago, in July 2025, when Yulia Svyrydenko replaced Denys Shmyhal’s Cabinet.
What about the Ministry of Digital Affairs?
The Ministry of Digital Transformation has been headed by an acting head for several months: on January 14, 2026, the Verkhovna Rada transferred Mykhailo Fedorov, who had headed the Ministry of Digital Transformation since the establishment of the department in 2019, to the position of Minister of Defense. The next day, January 15, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Oleksandr Bornyakov, who has been working in the ministry’s team from the very beginning and oversaw, in particular, the launch of Diya.City and the coordination of the Brave1 defense cluster, as the interim head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Since then, a permanent Minister of Digital Transformation has not been approved.
According to unofficial data from MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, as of the evening of Sunday, July 12, Valeria Ionan is being considered for the position of head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs — but this depends on whether Mykhailo Fedorov remains as Minister of Defense.
The full unofficial roster (according to Zheleznyak) looked like this as of the evening of July 12:
Probably remaining in their positions:
First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal
Deputy Prime Minister for Culture Tetyana Berezhna
Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko
Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko
Minister of Youth and Sports Matviy Bidny
Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiga
Minister of Social Policy Denys Ulyutin
Minister of Veterans Affairs Natalia Kalmykova (according to Zheleznyak, this is not final)
The expected replacements are as follows:
They want to fire Education Minister Oksen Lisovy again — a possible candidate for replacement is Mykola Trofymenko.
Zheleznyak writes that the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka is being prepared; Vsevolod Chentsov, the current representative of Ukraine to the EU, is being considered in his place.
The «mega-ministry» of resources is planned to be divided into the Ministry of Economy and Ecology (possibly headed by Oleksiy Sobolev) and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy (headed by Taras Vysotsky).
The Ministry of Reconstruction will also likely be divided: Oleksandr Kuleba will leave the government, the regional development direction will be headed by current People’s Deputy Vitaliy Bezgin, and it is still unknown who will head the infrastructure direction.
The Minister of Justice is planned to be replaced by Denys Maslov.
As mentioned above, the head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation remains in question. Valeria Ionan may become the new Minister of Digital Transformation, depending on whether Fedorov remains Minister of Defense.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs currently expects that Ihor Klymenko will remain in his position, but his transfer to the Ministry of Defense is not ruled out.
In addition to the government, Zelenskyy also announced personnel decisions in the leadership of law enforcement agencies, without naming specific names. According to one of the Telegram channels, Oleksandr Poklad is expected to be appointed as the full head of the SBU — he is currently the first deputy head of the service, while the duties of the head are performed by the head of the Special Operations Center «A» Yevheniy Khmara.
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