KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attempted to reinvigorate his government Thursday as Russia’s onslaught continues across the country.

But domestic experts believe that Zelenskyy’s reshuffling of loyalists among powerful cabinet posts won’t bring about the necessary change, while merging ministries risks paralyzing the government’s work and overloading officials already exhausted by war.

Yulia Svyrydenko was made Ukraine’s new prime minister and Olga Stefanishyna got the plum role of U.S. ambassador (after Republican resistance in Washington helped push out her predecessor), while many of their colleagues were reassigned to new posts as the national parliament voted through the changes Thursday afternoon.

“Our government is taking a course toward self-sufficiency: military, economic, and social. We must act quickly and decisively. Our priority steps in the first six months are to provide the army with high-quality equipment, increase our own weapons production, and improve the technological capabilities of the army,” Svyrydenko said.

Zelenskyy described the reshuffle as “a new configuration of the government,” as four ministries were slashed or merged into others.

Some observers in Kyiv were skeptical of the restructuring — while it will be months before some of those ministries are fully operational.

“This government cannot be called new. It’s better to call it a reshuffle of government chairs, with an unclear result to all of us. Because it would be wrong to say that Shmyhal did not cope as prime minister. Or that Yuliia Svyrydenko will be able to give some new impressive results,” said Svitlana Matviienko, executive director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives think tank. 

Zelenskyy’s office was more bullish.

“It’s not about new or not new people coming, it’s about people who can achieve results. We need things to work, especially in the defense sphere,” said one official close to the president.

Efficiency challenges

During Denis Shmyhal’s five-year stint as prime minister, the Ukrainian government withstood the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s initial blitz in the spring of 2022. It also restored domestic arms production, which is now supplying about 40 percent of the country’s war needs.

But Zelenskyy wants more, aiming for 50 percent amid major concerns about continued military support from allies like the U.S.

Zelenskyy’s government has faced numerous challenges in recent months, from retaining the Western support and foreign financing that is crucial to the country’s survival, to fixing the president’s fraught relationship with U.S. leader Donald Trump after their infamous Feb. 28 blowup in the Oval Office. Ukraine has also had to navigate peace talks with Russia pushed by Washington, reforming the country and reviving its energy system and weapons production, all while Russia bombards it with missile and drone attacks and grinds forward on the eastern battlefield.

Among the priorities for the new-look government are increasing domestic weapons production, fully contracting the volume of drones required by Ukraine’s Defense Forces, deregulation and unlocking the country’s economic potential, and ensuring that social support programs are fully implemented.

Zelenskyy thinks his new government structure will contribute to these aims.

“It is also essential to eliminate all excessive bureaucracy and duplication of functions in our state institutions — this will allow us to reduce all unnecessary spending,” the president said.

Yet merging departments will actually be less efficient, critics argue.

“The merger of the ministries paralyses their work for a long time. Like with the economy ministry, which was merged with agriculture and environment. Why do this? Not clear. Can you imagine managing this giant?” Matviienko said.

Shmyhal — who had been Ukraine’s longest-serving prime minister — will take over the defense ministry, which will be merged with the Ministry of Strategic Industries.

“The ‘merger’ creates direct risks, including corruption risks, because the customer, buyer, manufacturer and controller will now be one institution. Secondly, such a ‘merger’ is a loss of the most precious thing today — time for the ministry of defense to acquire the ability to operate all this,” said Iryna Friz, a Ukrainian MP from the opposition European Solidarity Party and a member of the defense committee in the Ukrainian parliament.

Changing the leadership and organizational structure of ministries usually means six months of paperwork as regulations are reapproved, employees are reassigned and personnel struggles play out.

“The efficiency of government agencies at this time is low,” Matviienko added.

Old guard

New Prime Minister Svyrydenko was one of the main drivers of the April 30 Ukraine-U.S. minerals deal, carefully crafting the final agreement out of the tough conditions Washington wanted to impose on Kyiv. She is also described by Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv, as “someone they can work with.”

Her former ministry of economy was merged with the ministries of environmental protection and agriculture, and will be taken over by her former deputy, Oleksii Sobolev. 

Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s trade representative and deputy economy minister, will become the new deputy prime minister on EU integration. Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko — accused of a power grab in the state energy sector — will become the new justice minister, a key institution for Ukraine’s EU integration process. Galushchenko’s former deputy and ex-minister of environment, Svitlana Hrynchuk, will take over the energy ministry.

Denys Uliutin, former deputy finance minister, is now the head of another merged ministry — the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity. The Ministry of National Unity, Zelenskyy’s pet project that aimed to help Ukrainians return home, will be liquidated after only six months of work.

Rustem Umerov, the former defense minister — described by Zelenskyy as an extremely effective manager and negotiator, but criticized by civil society for inaction and his alleged sabotage of key supplies to the army — will most likely be transferred to the national security council, according to Ukrainian media and scuttlebutt in Kyiv. His new role will be announced Friday.

Mykola Tochitsky, formerly of the president’s office, lost the post of minister of culture and informational policy and is also getting a foreign diplomatic post.

Mykhailo Fedorov kept his position as digital transformation minister and became first deputy prime minister instead of Svyrydenko. Oleksii Kuleba, another alumni of the president’s office, will remain minister of infrastructure and territorial development.

Matviy Bidnyi will stay on as the minister of youth and sports; Natalia Kalmykova will continue to manage the ministry of veterans affairs; Ihor Klymenko holds on to the ministry of internal affairs; Oksen Lisovyi will remain minister of education; Viktor Liashko, minister of health; Sergii Marchenko continues to runs the ministry of finance; and another presidential ally, Andrii Sybiha, will remain minister of foreign affairs.

 “In this race for loyalty, we completely lose an important nerve — respect for professionals, real ideas and ambitions. It is high time for the pro-government team to look for either courageous professional opponents, even enemies, or at least give a chance to the best from their own team. But they did not do it,” Matviienko said.

“In any case I wish success to them as we all are in the same boat.”