Oleksiy Lyubchenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister, has submitted a letter of resignation on Nov. 2 as part of yet another ministerial reshuffle — he is the third senior official to do so in the past 24 hours.
Lyubchenko’s resignation letter had been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, the Cabinet’s parliamentary envoy Taras Melnychuk wrote on Telegram, not disclosing any further details, including reasons for the resignation.
According to media reports, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Office suspected Lyubchenko of corruption, however, there is no official proof.
The head of Zelensky’s 242-seat parliamentary faction Servant of the People, David Arakhamia, earlier said Lyubchenko could be replaced with Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President.
Lyubchenko was appointed as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in May of this year. Before that, he headed the State Tax Service.
On Oct. 1, two other deputy ministers, Oleksiy Reznikov and Oleh Uruskiy, submitted their resignation letters. Reznikov, a Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories is expected to become Defense Minister, replacing Andriy Taran, who is also resigning. Iryna Vereshchuk, a lawmaker from the Servant of the People party, may take over Reznikov’s vacated office.
The Verkhovna Rada will consider personnel changes in the government on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, according to speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.
