Meet Yulia Svyrydenko, the economist Zelenskyy has named as Ukraine's next prime minister

When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, Yulia Svyrydenko was not even a public servant. Now, just a decade later as Ukraine fights Russia in a full-scale war, she is set to lead the nation’s government as the next Prime Minister of Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday named Svyrydenko, 39, as the next Prime Minister of Ukraine. She is currently the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in the Government of Ukraine.

In her current role, Svyrydenko has led negotiations with the Donald Trump administration of the United States and European partners. She has also overseen economic cooperation with international partners and headed defence-industrial development amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Svyrydenko will be the second woman to be the Prime Minister of Ukraine after Yulia Tymoshenko (2005-05, 2007-10). The Ukrainian parliament needs to confirm her appointment but that is expected to be a mere formality as the parliament has been aligned with Zelenskyy since the beginning of the war.

An economist who leads tough negotiations

Svyrydenko, an economist by training, has been in the thick of the war as the country’s lead negotiator in some of the critical aspects.

Earlier this year, Svyrydenko negotiated the US-Ukraine minerals deal. While the Trump administration essentially sought to make Ukraine a US colony with the initial version of the draft, the final deal that she negotiated saw the two sides arriving at a middle ground and Ukraine getting several favourable provisions.

Svyrydenko was the “key and the only person leading these negotiations” and she “managed to prevent them from unravelling”, Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former Ukrainian economy minister who worked with her, told AFP.

ALSO READ: Without US security guarantees, Ukraine minerals deal seeks middle ground — read full terms here

Svyrydenko has also led talks with international partners, such as Europe, for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction.

In her current role, Svyrydenko has overseen international economic cooperation and defence-industrial development, according to Kyiv Post.

Notably, since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine has emerged as a major defence industrial player with rapid advancement in military drones and remote warfare.

Yulia Svyrydenko’s journey from local government to prime minister

Svyrydenko was born on December 25, 1985, in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine. She was a mere child when the Soviet Union disintegrated.

Svyrydenko was in school when Vladimir Putin was transitioning from a spy agency operative to a ruthless politician . Now, decades later, as Putin is waging a war to destroy her nation, she is set to lead the nation’s government.

Svyrydenko graduated with honors from Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics in 2008 and joined a real estate firm as an economist that same year, according to Ukrainian state media.

ALSO READ: Ukraine and beyond — 25 years on, Putin is still fighting Cold War

In 2011, Svyrydenko was appointed the head of Chernihiv’s permanent trade mission in Wuxi, China, where she was tasked to bring Chinese investment into Ukraine. She was instrumental in the setting up of Eko-Vtor, a Chernihiv-based company backed entirely by foreign capital.

Svyrydenko entered public service in 2015 when she was appointed an adviser to Chernihiv’s local government. She was elevated later in the year to be the head of the Regional Department of Economic Development.

In 2017, Svyrydenko was promoted to the First Deputy Governor.

In her roles at Chernihiv, Svyrydenko brought foreign direct investment (FDI) to the tune of $340 million. The region under her tenure ranked first in investment growth in the country.

In 2019, Zelenskyy appointed Svyrydenko to the federal government as the Deputy Minister for Economy. He promoted her to the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture the next year. Later that year, he appointed her as the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

In 2021, just months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy appointed Svyrydenko as the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy.