Meet Ukraine's First Woman PM – Rising From The Rubble, She Now Takes The Helm Of A Wartime Nation
She becomes Ukraine's 19th prime minister at a defining moment. As June ends, so does Denys Shmyhal's five-year tenure. What follows is a transition of power, vision, voice and urgency. Svyrydenko steps in not as a populist, nor a wartime orator, but as a calm and calculated technocrat. She is an economist by training, a builder of frameworks and a problem-solver in the middle of crisis.
Her path to this moment has been decades in the making. Born on Christmas Day in 1985 in Chernihiv, Svyrydenko was a standout student at Kyiv's State University of Trade and Economics. With a master's degree in antitrust management, she started in the private sector before transitioning to public service in 2011. Her early years saw her posted to China and later advising regional governments on economic growth.
By 2019, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took notice. He brought her into a socio-economic working group during early peace dialogues, later elevating her to deputy head of the Presidential Office. In November 2021, months before Russia's full-scale invasion, she became deputy prime minister and minister of economy.
Then came war.
Instead of retreating, she helped Ukraine navigate one of its darkest periods. She played a pivotal role in securing a U.S.-Ukraine Reinvestment Fund in 2022, unlocking funding for rebuilding and tapping into Ukraine's mineral wealth. This year, she carried Ukraine's case to Rome, securing 11 billion euro in recovery pledges from Western partners.
President Zelenskyy formally nominated her on July 14. Three days later, 262 members of Parliament voted in favour. She became the first woman to lead Ukraine's government during wartime.
Her mandate is steep. Ukraine faces a $19 billion fiscal hole. Artillery shells continue to fall. But she has already laid out her battle plan – deeper fiscal reforms, deregulation, privatisation and a push to manufacture at least half of Ukraine's military equipment domestically within six months. She aims to speed up EU integration and deepen military ties with the United States.
In her first message on X, she wrote, 'Our Government sets its course toward 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. War leaves no room for delay.'
It is a great honor for me to lead the Government of Ukraine today. Our Government sets its course toward 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.
War… pic.twitter.com/oytWMCp1S3 — Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y) July 17, 2025
With that, a new chapter begins.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
37 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Canada's passport is losing ground; here's why it matter
Synopsis Canada's passport strength has diminished, now ranking eighth globally, granting access to 184 destinations. This decline reflects a shifting global mobility landscape where traditional leaders like the U.S. and U.K. are also losing ground. Singapore leads with access to 193 destinations, highlighting increasing competition for travel freedom as Asia-Pacific sees significant growth in international travel. Agencies Canada's passport power weakens, slips to 8th in global ranking Canada's passport, once among the most powerful in the world, has slipped again in global rankings, according to the Henley Passport Index, which measures travel freedom across 199 latest data places Canada eighth, tied with Estonia and the United Arab Emirates. Canadian passport holders can now travel visa-free or with a visa-on-arrival to 184 destinations out of marks a drop from seventh place earlier this year, when the figure stood at 188 destinations, and a four-point decline over the past say the ranking change reflects a wider shift in global mobility. A statement from Henley & Partners, which compiles the index, noted that 'traditional mobility champions are losing ground in an increasingly multipolar world.' As countries in Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa open their doors and secure reciprocal agreements, many Western nations are introducing tighter entry requirements. The United States and the United Kingdom have also slipped in the rankings, to 10th and 6th, respectively, despite once topping the list in 2014 and 2015. Singapore remains at the top of the 2025 list, with access to 193 destinations. Japan and South Korea follow with 190. Several European countries, including France and Germany, dominate the next the bottom end, Afghanistan's passport grants visa-free access to just 25 destinations, underlining stark global inequality in mobility rights. The Canadian passport remains among the strongest globally, but its gradual decline underscores the need for sustained diplomatic engagement. With international travel demand rising by 5.8 percent in early 2025 and Asia-Pacific leading growth at 9.5 percent, competition for travel freedom is expected to intensify.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Abhishek to head to Delhi as TMC intensifies SIR stir
Kolkata: national general secretary is expected to reach Delhi this week as the party intensifies its stir in Parliament, demanding an assurance from the Centre "on the floor of the House" that the special intensive revision (SIR) in Bihar will be discussed. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Trinamool Congress has been consistently opposing SIR, questioning Election Commission's powers to conduct citizenship checks and disenfranchise voters. The party has said SIR requirements mirror Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which makes the exercise "NRC in disguise." Over the last week, the party has been hamstrung by the absence of its floor leaders in Lok Sabha. Trinamool's leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay and senior MP Saugata Roy are not in Delhi due to health reasons. The party's chief whip in Lok Sabha, Kalyan Banerjee, is representing Bengal govt in cases and shuttling between Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court. On Friday, the party's deputy Lok Sabha leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar attended the all-party meeting convened by Speaker Om Birla. Banerjee is likely to remain in Delhi and work on party strategy. The Diamond Harbour MP, who was part of Centre's outreach abroad after Pahalgam attack, is also likely to be a keynote speaker if Operation Sindoor discussions take place in Parliament. A senior MP said: "Trinamool is not opposed to discussions on Operation Sindoor. In fact, we want some answers. But this cannot be at the expense of SIR. Here we are talking of mass disenfranchisement of people who had voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha, based on arbitrary reasoning. We want a clear assurance from the Centre on the floor of the house that SIR will be discussed threadbare in Parliament."
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Delhi govt.'s move to amend labour laws will strip lakhs of workers of their rights, say experts
Trade union leaders and experts have criticised the Delhi government's move to amend at least two labour laws as part of its 'Ease of Doing Business' policy, saying the amendments will strip lakhs of workers in the city of several rights. The first pertains to changing the applicability of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954, to establishments with 10 or more employees. Currently, the Act, which includes several safeguards for employees, such as leaves, weekly holidays, and a month's notice for dismissal, is applicable even to establishments with one employee. The government is also planning to amend the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, which protects workers in cases of lay-offs and closure of units employing 100 or more workers, by raising the minimum threshold of employees to 300. Directions were issued to senior officials at a review meeting on June 30, chaired by Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena and attended by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, to make these changes, said a source. However, the government is yet to release any official statement on the matter. 'No protection' Anurag Saxena, CITU general secretary (Delhi), said introducing a threshold in the law will leave employees working in smaller establishments without any protection. 'Right now, if a person working at a small bakery or garment shop is fired illegally, he or she can file a complaint under the Act. Once the minimum threshold is increased to 10, workers at thousands of establishments with fewer than 10 employees will be placed outside the ambit of the law and left without any protection,' he said. A senior Delhi government official said once the four Labour Codes, which were passed in Parliament in 2019 and 2020, are implemented, workers in smaller establishments will be provided with 'some level of protection'. However, Mr. Saxena said, 'The labour codes could provide protection to employees in case of wages, but there is no safeguard for workers at a small establishment who are fired illegally.' Concurrent List The government is also looking to make changes to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, which applies to commercial units across the country, as labour is part of the Concurrent List, which includes subjects over which the Union and State governments share legislative responsibilities. Currently, the Act provides protection to workers in the event of retrenchment and closure of firms employing 100 workers or more, as prior permission is required from the government or notice is to be given for such actions. The Delhi government plans to amend the Act to cover only establishments employing 300 or more workers. Professor Surajit Mazumdar at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said an employee's rights do not depend on the size of the establishment. 'As things stand, many labour laws meant to protect employees are not enforced properly. And now if you remove the workers from the ambit of the law itself, the workers won't be able to even fight for their rights,' he said. The threshold in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 has already been raised to 300 by the Bharatiya Janata Party governments in Gujarat (2021) and Assam (2018). The same change has also been proposed in the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, which is part of the four labour Codes, which have not been implemented amid resistance from labour unions across the country. Mr. Mazumdar said raising the threshold to 300 would be a way of introducing the labour Codes 'through the back door'. Gujarat had also amended the Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019 (the equivalent of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954) six years ago to cover units employing only 10 or more workers. 'The total number of employees in establishments with less than 10 workers in Delhi, who will be affected by the change in law, will be in the range of 7 to 20 lakh and the actual figure will be closer to 15 lakh,' said Mr. Mazumdar. He used the data from the Economic Census, 2013-14 and Delhi Economic Survey 2023-24 to arrive at the conclusion. Brijesh Goyal, chairman of Chamber of Trade & Industry, said the figure will be around 18-20 lakh workers, and Sucheta De, AICCTU national vice president, said the figure will be around 15-17 lakh workers. 'The entire practice is to keep most workers outside the scope of any legal protections,' Ms. De said. When reached out, the CM's office did not offer any comment.
