The government is preparing the resignation of ministers: who exactly will this affect?

Reshuffles in the Cabinet of Ministers

On the eve of the final vote on mobilisation, Russia once again shelled Ukraine’s energy sector, completely destroying the Trypillia thermal power plant. Against the backdrop of this news, MPs summoned Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov and Head of the State Agency for Reconstruction Mustafa Nayem to the Rada by a majority vote on the same day, but both were away on business trips.

Possible reshuffles in the infrastructure and rehabilitation sector and even its reorganization could occur as early as the 20th of April, when the Council meets again. Although they are not the most likely.

As of April 12, the main decision-making center on Bankova still does not have a final scheme for reshuffles and mergers/liquidations in the Cabinet of Ministers. But the main trends are already visible.

Most likely, the fate of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and the Ministry of Sports, both of which have been governed by acting officials for a long time, will finally be decided. In all likelihood, as a result they will be liquidated as such, and their functions will be transferred to other bodies. However, it is also possible to create a separate ministry of propaganda that will fight Russian aggression in the information sphere; such an idea has long been hatched at Bankova.

The Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories could also be liquidated - its functionality during a full-scale war is unclear to most of RBC-Ukraine’s interlocutors. The fate of its chairman, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, is still unknown - as an option, the position of ambassador or work at the head of one of the RMAs is called.

In this case, who will have to hand over the direction of internally displaced persons, of whom there are several million. There is no talk of creating a separate HPE ministry, but several options are possible, which the publication has heard about.

IDPs may be transferred to the same Ministry of Reconstruction (which also deals with infrastructure and development of territories), but the topic of reconstruction may be removed from it. And the deputy head of the Presidential Office, Oleksiy Kuleba, who is responsible for regional policy at Bankova Street, could allegedly head such a body. However, a number of interlocutors doubt that Kuleba himself is interested in replacing Bankova with Hrushevskoho Street (in the informal power hierarchy, positions in the Presidential Office are much higher than those in the Cabinet of Ministers).

Another scenario

Another scenario envisages further strengthening of the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yuliya Svyrydenko - she may also take over some infrastructure issues and even a "piece" of the of the Ministry of Ecology. Svyrydenko is said to be the brainchild of the head of the Presidential Administration, Andriy Yermak, who will further strengthen his influence after he finally cleared Bankova Street of alternative sources of influence on the president.

It is noteworthy that the opposite rumour is also circulating on the sidelines - that Svyrydenko may return to work in the Presidential Office, while Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov will become deputy prime minister. In 2020-22, he was already the head of the Ministry of Regional Development and continues to take an active part in regional development events in his current position. In addition to this area, according to government sources, Chernyshov would allegedly like to oversee energy and the environment.

Long before the full-scale war, there was active talk that Chernyshov would not mind taking the prime minister’s post, but this is not the case now.

All of the interlocutors assure us that the regular rumours about Denys Shmyhal’s resignation are unfounded and are mostly started by hidden contenders for his position.