Not everyone believes Ukraine's new prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko will hold much power

Australia Broadcast Center

16 hours ago

It was April 30, and Yulia Svyrydenko had arrived in Washington DC for perhaps the most important meeting of her political career so far — to sign the highly anticipated Ukraine-US critical minerals deal.
Just two months earlier, her country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had come to the White House to do it, but was abruptly shown the door after that infamous verbal clash with US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance.
The US-Ukraine relationship had hit such a low point that many wondered if the Trump administration would walk away from supporting Kyiv's war effort entirely.
But, after weeks of fraught behind-the-scenes negotiations, careful relationship rebuilding, and a hurried face-to-face meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy at the Vatican ahead of Pope Francis's funeral, things were back on track.
Four days after the Vatican meeting, it was up to Ms Svyrydenko, who was then Ukraine's deputy prime minister and economy minister, to lead a delegation to Washington to get the minerals deal done.
Within hours, she had inked the agreement, posed for photographs with the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and was reporting back to Kyiv that the US would help fund Ukraine's reconstruction in exchange for a stake in its vast mineral wealth.
The relationship between the US and Ukraine has been improving ever since.
For her role in bringing the minerals deal back from the brink, as well as her economic credentials and loyalty to Mr Zelenskyy, Ms Svyrydenko has this week been appointed Ukraine's first new prime minister in five years.
A majority in the 450-seat parliament — 262 members — voted for her as part of Mr Zelenskyy's biggest government reshuffle since Russia's invasion began in February 2022.
Ms Svyrydenko, who has risen through the ranks since joining the government in 2019, said it was a "great honour" to lead the government of Ukraine and she pledged to get straight to work.
"War leaves no room for delay. We must act swiftly and decisively," the 39-year-old posted on social media after the vote.
Sevgil Musayeva, the chief editor of leading independent newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, told the ABC that Ms Svyrydenko has been "one of the main faces of the Zelenskyy team" and rumours began swirling last year that she would be in line for the job of PM.
Ms Musayeva said that, as well as the minerals deal, Ms Svyrydenko had also signed important economic and redevelopment agreements for her country at the Ukrainian Recovery Conference in Rome this month, reportedly worth €11 billion ($20 billion).
However, Ms Musayeva added that she believes the real power in Kyiv will remain with Mr Zelenskyy and the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak.
"I don't believe that she will actually have any kind of independence … she has no freedom to make important decisions," Ms Musayeva said.
Some opposition politicians have also voiced scepticism about the new government's ability to remain independent of Mr Zelenskyy's administration.
In Ukraine, the president serves as the head of state and is responsible for foreign policy, while the constitution gives the prime minister the power when it comes to domestic policy.
Under previous presidents in pre-war times, prime ministers were not only independent of the president but were often at odds with them.
However, because Mr Zelenskyy's political party, 'Servant of the People', holds a majority in parliament, and while he remains broadly popular, he is more influential.
"From the start of the war, he became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, and it actually gives him a lot of power and responsibility. He controls the parliament, absolutely," Ms Musayeva said.
Elections in Ukraine are prohibited while the country is under martial law, a principle widely accepted by the people, given the difficulty of staging a vote while millions are displaced and cities are under bombardment and occupation.
But this also means it is difficult for new leaders to emerge.
Ms Svyrydenko's elevation to prime minister this week came as part of a major cabinet reshuffle.
Former prime minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's longest-serving head of government, moves to the role of defence minister, while other senior cabinet ministers are swapping roles too.
Opposition member of parliament Oleksii Goncharenko told the ABC it was all just for show.
"Maybe the idea was to show some change, but I don't know to whom," Mr Goncharenko said.
"If to Ukrainian people, Ukrainian people are not stupid, and they see that it's the same people. If to foreign partners, they also will see the same people just in a little bit of a different status. So, there is no real change.
"Also, the new government did not present any new programs or policies."
Ms Musayeva likened the reshuffle to "a rearrangement of old furniture".
"But there are some reasons why it takes place right now because there is a lot of negative feedback for the work of the government and for its anti-corruption issues and reforms," she said.
"So, it's necessary to do something just to try to change this kind of a negative narrative that is spreading about this government and Zelenskyy's leadership."
Mr Goncharenko said the new prime minister needed to prioritise mobilising troops, building the defence industry, and fighting corruption.
"The Ukrainian government is effective abroad in diplomacy and that is very good and very important, but it is not effective inside [Ukraine]," Mr Goncharenko said.
"There are many questions inside the country, economic, social, rule of law, the fight against corruption, and many, many other things. We have big problems."