Ukraine’s Prime Minister Shmyhal Resigns After 5 Years

On Tuesday, July 15, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced his resignation after five years in office.

He shared a photo of his resignation letter on his Telegram channel, thanking Ukraine’s defense forces for their protection, the president for his trust, and his team for their work together.

The resignation of the prime minister automatically triggers the dismissal of the entire Cabinet. However, under Article 10 of Ukraine’s Law “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law,” the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers cannot be terminated during martial law.

On Monday, July 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed that Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko take over as head of government and significantly revamp its work. He offered Denys Shmyhal the position of defense minister, saying that his experience “would definitely be valuable” in the role.

The current defense minister is Rustem Umerov, who was appointed by Zelensky in September 2023, vowing to “liberate every centimeter” of Ukraine. On July 10, Kyiv Post reported that Zelensky was considering replacing Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, with Umerov.

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Denys Shmyhal served as Ukraine’s prime minister since 2020. In February-March 2020, he was deputy prime minister and minister for communities and territories development under Oleksiy Honcharuk’s government.

From 2019 to 2020, he headed the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration. Between 2017 and 2019, he worked in companies affiliated with Rinat Akhmetov. From 2015 to 2017, he was involved in retail, serving as CEO and supervisory board member of Lvivkholod.

Earlier, he had worked in the Lviv Regional Administration and in business, and also served as an assistant to lawmaker Roman Chernega of the UDAR party in the 7th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.

Shmyhal graduated from Lviv Polytechnic with a degree in industrial management and holds the title of engineer-economist. He earned a PhD in economics and completed training programs in Belgium, Canada, Georgia, Finland, and Germany.