Unexpected Cabinet reshuffle: Svyrydenko out, Naftogaz chief Koretskiy likely to take the lead

UKRAINE - In Brief 12 Jul 2026 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

---

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced today that he has decided to reshuffle the Cabinet and replace current Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko with someone else — the most likely candidate being the head of Naftogaz, Sergiy Koretskiy. Other personnel changes have also been announced. Although it was something of an open secret that Svyrydenko's performance was neither fish nor fowl, the decision still came as a real surprise. Recall that Svyrydenko was appointed as a protégée of disgraced former Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, under an arrangement whereby someone else — more proactive and capable — would actually run the country while Svyrydenko obediently did as she was told. Since Yermak's removal, that vertical-of-power arrangement fell apart, and Svyrydenko immediately faced problems on multiple fronts, among them a Parliament that showed the Prime Minister clear disrespect. This tension with parliament translated into repeated difficulties approving the legislative packages that the IMF, World Bank, and European Commission have been requesting as a condition for further funding to Ukraine. The standoff with parliament was resolved after a fashion, but overall, Svyrydenko's performance without her patron was, to say the least, ‘average.’ The final trigger for Svyrydenko's dismissal was likely a wave of highly resonant news that clearly called for some reshuffling at the top echelons of power. Zelenskiy probably decided that removing Svyrydenko was a way to address mounting public discontent. The first of these events in recent weeks was the explosion at an ammunition depot which, for some unclear reason, was located too close to residential areas in a suburban town n...