President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed documents to the Verkhovna Rada regarding Denys Shmyhal as the new Minister of Defense.
The president reported this in an evening address.
According to Zelensky, strategic industries will also be managed through the Ministry of Defense. Herman Smetanin, who is currently the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, will head “Ukroboronprom”.
The president said that about 40% of weapons on the front are now Ukrainian-made. He says that this is significantly more than at any time during Ukraineʼs independence.
"But more is needed. And we need more of our capabilities to push the war onto Russian territory — to where the war came from. So that they feel what they have done and what the price of Putinʼs refusal to accept a ceasefire and genuine peace is," Zelensky said.
According to him, by the end of the first half of the new governmentʼs term, the share of Ukrainian weapons should be increased to 50%. He is convinced that this is realistic.
What preceded
Denys Shmyhal has served as Prime Minister of Ukraine since March 2020. On July 15, he submitted his resignation, which the Verkhovna Rada approved the next day.
Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky said that current Defense Minister Rustem Umerov could become Ukraineʼs new ambassador to the United States. A strong person should be chosen for the position of ambassador, Zelensky says, who would be in the context of the most important thing — strengthening the state and supplying weapons.
And on July 14, Zelensky proposed that Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko lead the Ukrainian government. Among the tasks of the renewed government, the president sees strengthening Ukraineʼs economic potential, expanding support programs for Ukrainians, and scaling up the production of its own weapons.
- Earlier, The Economist reported that the parliament allegedly plans to hold a vote on changing the prime minister in favor of Yulia Svyridenko. The article also mentions possible reshuffles in the education, healthcare, culture, social policy and, possibly, finance sectors. According to The Economist, the idea of replacing the current prime minister Denys Shmyhal, with Andriy Yermakʼs protégé Yulia Svyridenko, is not new, but last year Zelensky vetoed such a reshuffle.
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