Prime Minister of Ukraine
The prime minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government, presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government. The position replaced the Soviet post of the chairman of Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, which was established on March 25, 1946.
Since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, there have been sixteen prime ministers, or twenty, counting acting PMs. Yulia Tymoshenko was the first woman appointed prime minister in history of Ukraine. Arseniy Yatsenyuk was the first prime minister who came from Western Ukraine. Two prime ministers were born in the Russian SFSR.
The current prime minister is Denys Shmyhal who was sworn in on 4 March 2020.
Appointment
The prime minister is appointed by the president with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada. The consent is deemed granted by the parliament when a simple majority of its constitutional membership votes in favour of the candidate nominated by the president. The highest parliamentary approval to date was received by Yulia Tymoshenko who was appointed the prime minister on February 4, 2005, with 373 votes in the Verkhovna Rada. Other prime ministers who received more than 300 votes were Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Yatsenyuk again in 2014 Vitold Fokin, and Leonid Kuchma.The procedure of granting consent by the parliament is usually preceded by several days of comprehensive consultations and interviews of the candidate by the parliamentary factions. The approval by the legislature is not a mere formality. Some candidates were ratified by a narrow margin and a candidate may be turned down. For instance, in 1999, Valeriy Pustovoitenko fell three votes short of being re-confirmed after he tendered his resignation at the second inauguration of President Leonid Kuchma in 1999. Kuchma chose Viktor Yushchenko as his alternative candidate. Another example is the approval of Yuriy Yekhanurov's candidacy.
After the constitutional reform of late 2004, the president was restricted in his choice of prime minister and was virtually obliged to nominate the person proposed by the parliamentary coalition. The prime minister, as with all members of executive branch, cannot be a member of parliament.
Duties and powers
The prime minister heads Ukraine's executive branch of government, the Cabinet of Ministers, and signs decrees passed by the Cabinet.The prime minister has the authority to propose candidates for ministry offices to the Verkhovna Rada, with the exception of the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of defense, which are proposed by the president. The prime minister can also propose candidates for the heads of regional administrations to the president for consideration.
The prime minister can also countersign decrees and laws passed by the president. The constitution is silent on the exact regulation of the countersigning. The prime minister are responsible for the execution of laws passed by the cabinet.
While in office, the prime minister is granted full legal immunity from all prosecutions and legal proceedings. The prime minister's office is headquartered in the Cabinet of Ministries building in central Kiev. The prime minister was paid a yearly salary of 202,776 UAH in 2005. In 2013, following a petition in Fokus magazine, the secretariat of the cabinet stated that the monthly salary of the prime minister was 33,980 UAH, which is eleven times more than the average salary in the country.
Prime ministers are frequently asked by individual citizens for help in solving their personal problems, sometimes successfully. In 2012, Prime Minister Azarov received dozens of personal pleas every day on his Facebook page. By-passing local governments is an age-old practice in Ukraine.
Acting and vice-prime ministers
The first vice-prime minister, also known as the first deputy, heads the cabinet in the absence of the prime minister due to resignation or dismissal. Among the most notable First deputies were Yukhym Zvyahilsky and Mykola Azarov, who served as the acting prime minister for a longer period of time than anyone else. Valentyn Symonenko, Vasyl Durdynets, Oleksandr Turchynov and others also served as acting prime minister.Apart from the first vice-prime minister, there are also several other vice-ministers who support the prime minister and may be in charge of one or more ministries. In 1991–1992 the office of the state minister was also introduced. Traditionally vice-prime ministers are in charge of an area of general state government policy such as the agro-industrial complex, humanitarian affairs, economic affairs, or regional policy. On certain occasions, those deputies may be given regular ministerial portfolios as well, as happened in the 2010 Azarov Government.
Dismissal and resignation
The prime minister, like other Cabinet members, may resign voluntarily by tendering their resignation to parliament. Parliament must then consider the matter no later than the 10th day after the resignation application is received, if parliament was not in session at the time of resignation then no later than the first plenary week of the next regular session. A resignation by the prime minister results in the dismissal of the entire Cabinet. After the adoption of the current constitution in 1996, only prime ministers Pavlo Lazarenko and Mykola Azarov have left their post this way. While the prime minister does not have a set term limit, he or she stays in office for the duration of the parliament term, unless he or she resigns or is dismissed earlier.Before the constitutional reform of 2004, the prime minister was usually dismissed unilaterally by the president. After the reform, the prime minister can only be dismissed by the parliament. Formally, the Verkhovna Rada needed to pass a resolution of no confidence of the cabinet, which had to result in the prime minister's resignation. However, the parliament could not put such a resolution to the vote within one year of the approval of the cabinet's official programme. The Cabinets of prime ministers Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were dismissed in this way, with the latter refusing to tender his resignation to the president claiming a violation of the one-year period condition. The Cabinet of Yuriy Yekhanurov had also been formally dismissed, but the parliamentary act was subsequently repealed.
List of prime ministers (1991–present)
Since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, there have been 15 prime ministers. Yulia Tymoshenko was the first female prime minister of Ukraine. Before the re-appointment as Prime Minister of Mykola Azarov, Tymoshenko was the longest serving prime minister serving for two terms and a total of 1,029 days. Since Azarov was re-appointed as prime minister on 13 December 2012, he has since broken Tymoshenko's record. Azarov resigned on 28 January 2014, due to public outcry and protests following the Euromaidan. He was succeeded up by Arseniy Yatsenyuk on 27 February 2014. Yatsenyuk announced he would resign as Prime Minister on 24 July 2014; but his resignation was declined by parliament on 31 July 2014 when only 16 MPs voted for his resignation.Timeline
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from: 23/10/1990 till: 01/10/1992 color:claret text:"Fokin" fontsize:10
from: 02/10/1992 till: 12/10/1992 color:postsoviet text:"Symonenko" fontsize:10
from: 13/10/1992 till: 21/09/1993 color:postsoviet text:"Kuchma" fontsize:10
from: 22/09/1993 till: 15/06/1994 color:postsoviet text:"Zvyahilsky" fontsize:10
from: 16/06/1994 till: 06/03/1995 color:postsoviet text:"Masol" fontsize:10
from: 06/03/1995 till: 27/05/1996 color:postsoviet text:"Marchuk" fontsize:10
from: 28/05/1996 till: 18/06/1997 color:yellow text:"Lazarenko" fontsize:10
from: 02/07/1997 till: 30/07/1997 color:postsoviet text:"Durdynets" fontsize:10
from: 16/07/1997 till: 22/12/1999 color:green text:"Pustovoitenko" fontsize:10
from: 22/12/1999 till: 29/05/2001 color:postsoviet text:"Yushchenko" fontsize:10
from: 29/05/2001 till: 21/11/2002 color:skyblue text:"Kinakh" fontsize:10
from: 21/11/2002 till: 05/01/2005 color:blue text:"Yanukovych" fontsize:10
from: 04/02/2005 till: 08/09/2005 color:red text:"Tymoshenko" fontsize:10
from: 22/09/2005 till: 04/08/2006 color:orange text:"Yekhanurov" fontsize:10
from: 04/08/2006 till: 18/12/2007 color:blue text:"Yanukovych" fontsize:10
from: 18/12/2007 till: 06/03/2010 color:red text:"Tymoshenko" fontsize:10
from: 11/03/2010 till: 28/01/2014 color:blue text:"Azarov" fontsize:10
from: 27/02/2014 till: 14/04/2016 color:orange text:"Yatsenyuk" fontsize:10
from: 14/04/2016 till: 29/08/2019 color:red text:"Groysman" fontsize:10
from: 29/08/2019 till: 04/03/2020 color:green text:"Honcharuk" fontsize:10
from: 04/03/2020 till: 01/04/2020 color:postsoviet text:"Shmyhal" fontsize:10