Ihor Petrashko, 44, deputy head of an agricultural firm UkrLandFarming, is the main candidate to become Ukraine’s economy minister. His candidacy was announced at the meeting of the members of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party the Servant of the People on March 16, two sources among the lawmakers in attendance told the Kyiv Post. They were not authorized to speak publicly.
Petrashko’s candidacy will be put up for a vote in parliament on March 17. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
The post of economy minister remained vacant after the government reshuffle staged by Zelensky on March 4, along with ministers of culture, energy, and education. It was previously held by Tymofiy Mylovanov.
Ihor Petrashko, deputy head of UkrLandFarming. (Latifundist.com)
Petrashko’s background is in consulting, investment banking, and agriculture. He’s new to public service. Since 2013, he has been working at Ukrlandfarming, an agriculture firm owned by agriculture tycoon Oleg Bakhmatyuk. Bakmatyuk is wanted in Ukraine on suspicion of bank fraud.
The Servant of the People lawmakers were also informed that Iryna Venedyktova will be up for a vote as the new prosecutor general on March 17. Venedyktova currently heads the State Investigation Bureau. She is a former law professor from Kharkiv, and was elected to parliament in 2019 on Zelensky’s party ballot.
Maksym Buzhansky, a lawmaker from the Servant of the People, wrote on Telegram on March 17 that a Rada committee had supported Venedyktova for the job of prosecutor general.
Venedyktova didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Venedyktova will succeed Ruslan Riaboshapka, who was sacked as prosecutor general by the parliament on March 5. Before Riaboshapka’s firing, which was backed by his former ally Zelensky, Venedyktova was reportedly in conflict with the prosecutor general over the case her bureau was investigating against ex-President Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky’s political opponent. Venedyktova was cross with Riaboshapka’s reluctance to sign a notice that would make Poroshenko a suspect in an abuse of office case.
Venedyktova has a mixed record from her nearly three months as the acting chief of the State Investigation Bureau, mainly for her controversial appointments.
On Jan. 20, she appointed Oleksandr Babikov, ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s former defense lawyer, as the first deputy head of the bureau, which has been investigating murders of protesters during the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, which toppled Yanukovych.
Venedyktova also made Oleksandr Buryak the bureau’s top investigator in charge of EuroMaidan cases. Buryak, who has been serving at the agency since 2017, was among the officials featured in alleged audio recordings implicating judges on the Kyiv Administrative District Court in obstruction of justice.
Venedyktova’s deputies at her new post may also prove controversial.
According to Kyiv Post’s sources in Zelensky’s party and Prosecutor General’s Office, Serhiy Kiz will be appointed deputy prosecutor general.
Kiz used to serves as deputy prosecutor general under Yuriy Lutsenko, who held the post in 2016-2019, and earned a reputation of an ineffective prosecutor with little integrity.
As Lutsenko’s deputy, Kiz made some decisions viewed as sabotage by lawyers for EuroMaidan protesters. Specifically, in August he closed a case against ex-Verkhovna Rada Deputy Speaker Ihor Kaletnik, claiming that he committed no crime. The case involves alleged violations during the adoption of the so-called “dictatorship laws” of Jan. 16, 2014, which would have restricted the right to protest and other civil liberties. The adoption of the law gave start to violent clashes between protesters and the police, which led to killings.
Kiz didn’t reply to a request for comment.
The Kyiv Post staff writer Oleg Sukhov contributed to this story.
