Ukraine's parliament has voted to approve Yulia Svyrydenko’s appointment as prime minister, and the composition of her government, in what is the largest cabinet reshuffle since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.
Lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko wrote on Telegram that deputies of the Verkhovna Rada approved Svyrydenko for the post with 262 votes in favour on Thursday.
"Our Government sets its course towards a Ukraine that stands firm on its own foundations — military, economic, and social. My key goal is real, positive results that every Ukrainian will feel in daily life,” Svyrydenko said on social media following the announcement.
Svyrydenko served as first deputy prime minister and economy minister, posts she has held since November 2021.
What earned Yulia Svyrydenko the top job?
The 39-year-old, who was appointed economy minister just months before the Kremlin launched its full-scale assault in February 2022, shot to international prominence this year when she championed a vital economic accord between Kiev and Washington.
Svyrydenko led fraught negotiations around a minerals and investment agreement with the United States that nearly derailed ties between Kiev and its most important military ally.
The deal was central to a disastrous televised spat between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump in February 2025.
Not long after, Svyrydenko travelled to Washington to finalise an agreement that many Ukrainians hoped would placate Trump by giving him a sellable victory and ensure more critical US support for Kiev.
"She was the key and the only person leading these negotiations. She managed to prevent them from unravelling," said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former economy minister who worked with Svyrydenko.
She earned the respect of US partners during the negotiations, according to several analysts, including Mylovanov, who described Svyrydenko as preferring a level-headed, non-confrontational approach in politics.
The role of prime minister does not typically include a say on military strategy or frontline operations, where Zelenskyy and his military chiefs call the shots.
What are other key appointments?
Honcharenko later announced that parliament also approved the composition of Svyrydenko's cabinet in subsequent votes, as a result of which Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha retained his post while Denys Shmyhal, Svyrydenko's predecessor, was appointed defence minister.
Shmyhal, Ukraine's longest-serving prime minister, and his Cabinet's resignation were approved by the Verkhovna Rada on July 16.
According to the draft bill regarding the new Cabinet's formation on parliament's website, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov assumed the post of first deputy prime minister vacated by Svyrydenko.
Other key appointments include Svitlana Hrynchuk as energy minister; Herman Halushchenko as justice minister; Taras Kachka as deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration; Oleksii Sobolev as economy, environment and agriculture minister and Denys Uliutin as social policy, family and unity minister.
The bill indicated that the interior, veterans affairs, education, health, communities and territories, and youth and sports ministers have retained their posts.
Among her government's priorities for the next six months, she listed reliable supplies for the Ukrainian army, the expansion of domestic weapons production and boosting the technological strength of the defence forces.
Svyrydenko became the second woman to assume the prime minister post after Yulia Tymoshenko, who held the position briefly in 2005 and later from December 2007 to March 2010.
