The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appointed Yulia Svyrydenko as first deputy prime minister, minister of economy of Ukraine.
Some 256 MPs voted for the relevant decision at the plenary session on Nov. 4.
Prior to this appointment, Svyrydenko served as deputy head of the President’s Office. Svyrydenko will replace Oleksiy Liubchenko, who was dismissed by the parliament on Nov. 3.
Svyrydenko said she sees the need for government stimulation of five clusters of the economy, where investments in the long and short term will have the greatest effect on the economy: mechanical engineering, energy (thermal modernization of at least 5,000 apartment buildings annually), IT, agriculture, construction (development of mortgage lending).
In a crisis period, when business refrains from large-scale risky projects, the government should assume the function of generating and launching investment projects, she said.
According to Svyrydenko, Ukraine can resume shipbuilding in the next three years and produce 20 vessels annually until 2025 to increase the industry’s turnover to Hr 22 billion per year. With regard to the agro-industrial complex, she pointed to the need to reduce tax rates for companies that are engaged in animal husbandry, as well as to implement an irrigation program.
Answering questions from the audience, Svyrydenko said she expects inflation in 2022 to be kept within the NBU’s target of 5% +/- 1%.
35-year-old Yulia Svyrydenko graduated from Kyiv national university of trade and economics with a degree in antimonopoly management. She served as deputy head of the President’s Office since Dec. 22, 2020, and before that she was deputy minister of economy.
