Yulia Sviridenko
Thirty-nine-year-old Yulia Svyrydenko recently served as Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy. In this role, she signed a historic subsoil agreement with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Zelensky proposed Yulia Svyrydenko to head the Ukrainian government.
On July 17, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Yulia Svyrydenko as the new Prime Minister of Ukraine.
Various "insiders" have been speculating about Svyrydenko's future as prime minister since at least 2024, although the first serious talk of Denys Shmyhal's resignation at Bankova Street began in the summer of 2022. Among the key complaints against the government was Shmyhal's alleged inability to generate breakthrough ideas that would transform the country and give it a chance to survive the war.
However, Denys Shmyhal remained in office and led the Ukrainian government for the longest time in history. This record ended on July 16, when 261 MPs voted for his resignation.
Yesterday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy nominated Yulia Svyrydenko to lead the Cabinet of Ministers. According to her, the head of state's priorities include strengthening Ukraine's economic potential, expanding support programs for Ukrainians, and scaling up domestic weapons production.
It's worth noting that Yulia Anatolyevna Svyrydenko was responsible for economic policy for the past four years, serving as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in Shmyhal's government. Furthermore, the programs supporting Ukrainians ("Support," "Winter Support," and "National Cashback"), which their critics called overtly populist, were also overseen by Svyrydenko's ministry.
BusinessCensor decided to remind us what else is known about Yulia Sviridenko and what Ukrainians remember about her.
Yulia Sviridenko. Family and Education
Yulia Sviridenko comes from a family of Chernihiv civil servants. Her father worked in the local branch of the Antimonopoly Committee, and her mother held a position in the regional council.
After graduating from Chernihiv Secondary School No. 1 with an in-depth study of foreign languages in 2003, she entered the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics, where she graduated with honors. She holds a master's degree in antitrust management.
In 2016, she completed a management training program at the German Management Academy of Lower Saxony. The following year, she completed a program on private sector growth strategies organized by the Swedish International Development Agency, Sida.
Yulia Sviridenko is married to businessman Sergey Derlemenko. He manages DKS-Group LLC and DITEL LLC, which are involved in construction, repair, telecommunications, and network maintenance.
Yulia Sviridenko is known for her reticence regarding her personal life. She avoids commenting on the subject, earning her a reputation as a professional who separates the personal from the political.
From China to the Ichnya Explosions
The new prime minister began her career in the private sector of her native Chernihiv region. After graduating from university in 2011, Yulia Sviridenko became Chernihiv's permanent representative in the All in China urban district. Her job involved attracting Chinese investment to Chernihiv. To communicate with investors on an equal footing, Yulia Sviridenko learned Chinese, aided by her studies at a school specializing in foreign languages.
However, Sviridenko's official short biography on the Ministry of Economy's website makes no mention of her "Chinese period." However, following her work in China, the Ukrainian-Chinese company Eco-Vtor was established, building a polyester fabric manufacturing plant in Chernihiv. Yulia Sviridenko became the plant's deputy director for foreign economic activity.
She worked there until 2015, when she transferred to the public sector. This was facilitated by her meeting with Valeriy Kulich in China. In the spring of 2015, he was appointed Chairman of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, and he invited Svyrydenko to head the Department of Economic Development.
"When I arrived at the Regional State Administration, there weren't even any English speakers in the foreign trade department. Yulia stood out from the other employees," Valery Kulich told Forbes.
That same year, Yulia Sviridenko unsuccessfully ran for the Chernihiv City Council as a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc . Her husband, Serhiy Derlemenko, also ran for the city council as a member of the Samopomich party.
Yulia Svyrydenko worked with Kulich until 2018, focusing not only on the economic bloc but also on decentralization. Ultimately, due to a conflict with then-President Petro Poroshenko, Valeriy Kulich was removed from his position as head of the region. Yulia Svyrydenko was appointed acting head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration. She governed the region for five months as acting head.
Incidentally, it was during this brief period in Sviridenko's career that explosions occurred at military depots in Ichnya (Pryluky district, Chernihiv region). At the time, she was heading the emergency response headquarters. Ultimately, only four protected concrete shelters remained intact, and losses amounted to approximately 95% of the 69,5 tons of ammunition stored there.
Yulia Sviridenko subsequently returned from government service to the private sector, heading Kulich's company, Sidko Ukraine, which specializes in processing agricultural crops.
Yulia Sviridenko. $6 a month from Milovanov.
2019. The new government was headed by the youngest prime minister in history, Oleksiy Honcharuk. Tymofiy Mylovanov, who had been looking for new people to fill the team, became Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture.
Sviridenko was recommended to him by Taras Vysotsky, who recently served as First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
After the interview, Milovanov finally took her on as his patron. Initially, she was in charge of agricultural issues, then Sviridenko took on labor reform, specifically the legalization of the labor market and the de-regulation of private company salaries. Yulia Sviridenko was also sent to meetings in the presidential office, where she had to explain economic processes in simple terms and what the Ministry of Economy was working on.
When Goncharuk was dismissed in the spring of 2020, Milovanov also resigned, but his deputies continued to work.
Incidentally, in April 2025, a scandal erupted following a publication by MP Volodymyr Ariev (European Solidarity), who pointed out that Svyrydenko had received and declared 3,1 million hryvnias in teaching fees from the Kyiv School of Economics in 2024. As Deputy Prime Minister, she earned almost three times less—1,21 million hryvnias.
Milovanov confirmed that Yulia Sviridenko indeed receives $6 monthly as a KSE teacher (approximately 246 hryvnias at the time). This amount, according to Milovanov, "is in line with the market salary for someone of her level."
However, this was seen as a conflict of interest, as in 2024, the Ministry of Economy, headed by Yulia Sviridenko, nominated Tymofiy Mylovanov for the supervisory board of Ukroboronprom. That same year, Mylovanov also joined the supervisory board of NNEGC Energoatom as a government representative. Furthermore, in 2024, KSE entities were implementing grant programs whose beneficiary was the Ministry of Economy, headed by Sviridenko, Ariev noted.
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Journalists previously wrote that Sviridenko's rapid career advancement was facilitated by political connections, gained in part through Milovanov. Critics hinted that her promotion may have been driven in part by these connections, and not solely by merit.
Yermak's deputy
Back in early 2020, when the coronavirus crisis erupted, then-Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko brought Yulia Svyrydenko to his headquarters. She was responsible for the duty-free import of medical supplies, masks, and equipment. From that moment on, she began working at Bankova Street almost daily.
In December 2020, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Presidential Office , appointed her as his deputy for economic issues. In this position, Yulia Sviridenko replaced Yulia Kovalyova, who was perceived as part of the "legacy" of Yermak's predecessor as head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan. As Yermak's deputy, Sviridenko's responsibilities included overseeing communications between the parliamentary majority, the government, and the Presidential Office.
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Sviridenko became Yermak's favorite because she didn't ask unnecessary questions and carried out instructions even if she didn't like them, according to former employees of the Presidential Administration's Office. In relevant circles, she is remembered as someone who always had a notebook, where she jotted down the ideas of the president, the head of the Presidential Administration, and the prime minister.
This is likely why they decided to return Sviridenko to the Cabinet of Ministers, but to a higher position – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy.
What was the Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko remembered for?
The Verkhovna Rada appointed Yulia Svyrydenko to her new position on November 4, 2021, shortly before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, most of Svyrydenko's work after returning to the Cabinet of Ministers occurred during the Great War.
Under her leadership, the Ministry of Economy implemented programs for the relocation of enterprises and humanitarian demining, created a program for the employment of temporarily displaced persons, launched the Export Credit Agency (ECA), dealt with preferential loans for businesses, and also implemented the “social” ideas of President Volodymyr Zelensky: “ Buy Ukrainian ” and “National Cashback.”
However, not all of Sviridenko's ministry's decisions were timely or successful. Critics point to the fuel shortages that arose in the first months after the full-scale war began due to state price controls . These controls were lifted only in May 2022, resulting in higher prices, but fuel also began to appear at gas stations.
Moreover, despite public statements about the success of the agricultural land demining compensation program, the funds allocated for it have not reached farmers for the second year in a row; they have been redirected to other expenses.
Yulia Sviridenko also promoted the idea of economic reservation, noting in particular the significant impact on the state budget. However, this idea was never implemented.
Svyrydenko was also responsible for the implementation of the "Made in Ukraine" policy announced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in January 2024. However, the Ministry of Economy also placed a number of programs initiated under the presidency of his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko , under the umbrella of the presidential initiative.
It's worth remembering that it was Svyrydenko, as head of the Ministry of Economy, who initiated the imposition of sanctions against former President Poroshenko in February 2025. According to ZN.ua sources, Svyrydenko also signed the submission to the National Security and Defense Council. Along with Poroshenko, sanctions were imposed on a number of other Ukrainian oligarchs, but the submission for them was prepared by the SBU. This led critics to believe that both the Security Service and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal refused to submit the submission, while Svyrydenko agreed.
One of Sviridenko's most recent major achievements as Minister of Economy was the signing of the so-called "minerals agreement" with the United States on behalf of Ukraine, the supplementary agreements to which were never made public.
Did Sviridenko's brother go abroad?
Shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a possible government reshuffle, MP Maryana Bezugla published a statement accusing Yulia Svyrydenko's brother, Vitaliy, of leaving the country despite being of military age. According to Bezugla, Vitaliy Svyrydenko left to study in London. The MP noted that Yulia Svyrydenko's brother has headed the Chernihiv Shooting Federation since the fall of 2021.
In her next message, Bezuglaya stated: “Officials are not responsible for their family members, especially if they are not children, but parents, brothers, or sisters.”
"But if they don't get involved in the fact that a brother fled mobilization, for example, or withdrew family funds," she added, clarifying that the official must be prepared to state their position and explain the situation.
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Yulia Svyrydenko has already outlived two prime ministers and now leads the government herself. She has a relatively clean record and is considered a competent technocrat with a reputation for avoiding serious controversy—a valuable asset in contemporary Ukrainian politics.
Skelet.Org
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