Ukrainian prime minister to exit in sweeping reshuffle

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has resigned and the finance minister, foreign minister and the prosecutor general could also exit in a sweeping reshuffle this week,

March 3, 2020

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has resigned and the finance minister, foreign minister and the prosecutor general could also exit in a sweeping reshuffle this week, lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s party said on Tuesday.

Zelenskiy has put forward Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmygal to replace Honcharuk, lawmaker Galyna Yanchenko told reporters after a party meeting ahead of a special parliamentary session convened by the president on Wednesday.

Honcharuk’s office declined comment.

“The president and Shmygal presented the potential composition of the cabinet … We expect big changes,” Yanchenko said.

The reshuffle comes just as Ukraine is trying to secure the release of billions of dollars in loans from the International Monetary Fund, which is contingent on Kiev’s progress in passing reforms and tackling corruption.

Honcharuk’s position has been under scrutiny since the leak in January of a recording that suggested he had made unflattering comments about Zelenskiy.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Nick Zieminski)