President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has made significant personnel reshuffles in the government, trying to restore his rating against the background of declining popularity. This is reported by the British magazine The Economist, which details the reasons and consequences of these changes.
"As his popularity declines, Volodymyr Zelenskyy updates his office," the article is titled. Also, as the newspaper reports, ratings of the government fell.
"He (the president - Ed.) could not fail to notice the significant drop in the government's popularity recorded in public opinion polls in recent months. Given that elections were canceled for the duration of the war, this was one of the few levers he could use," the article says.
At the same time, the magazine notes "dysfunction" in the management of the country, as "even members of his own party ("Servants of the People" - Ed.) scoffed at the procedure, and three of the seven resignations failed."
The publication pays special attention to the planned resignation of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuleba. The magazine considers the reason for his dismissal to be the refusal to "rude" Western diplomats.
It is stated that Kuleba's diplomacy “did not always coincide with the boss's crude and emotional rhetoric. The president's administration complained that Kuleba avoids getting his hands dirty."
The Economist writes that Kuleba's fate was decided back in April, when his potential successor, Andriy Sybiga, was transferred from the President's Office to the post of deputy minister.
But the removal of Kuleba even then was hindered by "pressure from the US State Department." And now the election season continues in America, and the attention of the United States is focused on something else, one of the sources notes.
At the same time, it was the pressure of the United States that caused the resignation of the deputy chairman of the OP Rostislav Shurma.
"Aleksandr Kamyshyn, the outgoing Minister of Strategic Industries, is expected to take over part of Shurma's portfolio. In normal times, moving from ministerial to presidential adviser might be seen as a demotion. Insiders say that during the times of the increased power of the presidential office, everything happens exactly the opposite," the newspaper writes.
That is why "ministerial changes are unlikely to have a serious impact - both on the government and on the front line in the east of Ukraine, which looks increasingly unstable."
"However, some sources describe the changes as a further consolidation of power around the influential head of Volodymyr Zelenskyi's administration Andriy Yermak," the magazine summarizes.
