A source in the President's Office said that the personnel reshuffle is an intermediate stage before the introduction of new legitimacy. Andriy Yermak is preparing to reboot the Cabinet, probably in order to avoid external influence on the processes after May 20.
There have been recent personnel changes in the Office of the President and the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. It all started with the replacement of the Secretary of the NSDC, and reached the First Assistant to the President.
On Tuesday, March 26, Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree dismissing Oleksiy Danilov from the post of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, appointing Oleksandr Litvinenko, the former head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, in his place, and Oleh Ivashchenko was appointed to the position of Litvinenko.
The President explained that these changes are aimed at updating the department, in particular, to strengthen cooperation with intelligence.
After Danilov's dismissal, he remained part of the ruling team. Yesterday, March 29, Zelensky announced that the former NSDC secretary would receive the post of ambassador to Moldova, but a corresponding decree has not yet been issued.
Also on Friday, March 29, decrees were published dismissing two advisors to the head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak. Their positions were given to Olena Kovalska and Iryna Mudra.
However, it wasn't over. Today, Zelenskyy dismissed Serhiy Shefir from his position as first assistant.
Also today, the president's non-staff advisors, the presidential commissioner for human rights defenders, and the commissioner for volunteer activities lost their positions.
Sergey Nikiforov, the presidential spokesman, explained that the personnel changes are related to staff optimization.
Recall that Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously did not rule out changes in the composition of the government team in order to save money on defense. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also noted that the number of ministries could be reduced by a third.
