KYIV -- Two Ukrainian ministers have reportedly submitted their resignations to parliament while a third minister is expected to be fired as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's cabinet experiences more turnover.
Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko and Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy submitted their resignations, Olha Tuniy, the press secretary of Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov, said in a May 14 Facebook post.
Tuniy gave no reason for their decision to resign. Neither minister has publicly announced their intention to step down.
Economic Development Minister Ihor Petrashko (file photo)
Separately, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal asked parliament the same day to fire Health Minister Maksym Stepanov, who has been criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The parliament will consider Shmyhal’s request to dismiss Stepanov at its next meeting on May 18.
Zelenskiy’s cabinet has experienced significant turnover since the former comic took power in 2019.
He dismissed his first government in March 2020 after just six months despite what Ukraine observers said was significant progress on banking and land reforms.
Parliament last month approved Herman Halushchenko as Ukraine’s new energy minister.
Halushchenko is the fourth person to hold the position of minister or acting-minster of energy under Zelenskiy.
There have been important changes outside Zelenskiy's cabinet as well over the past 15 months.
The president fired his chief of staff Andriy Bohdan in February 2020 while National Bank head Yakiv Smolii resigned in July 2020 citing political pressure.