NEWS
Ukrainian gov’t to merge several ministries, downsize workforce – Reports
The Ukrainian government is planning to scale down the number of ministries from 20 to 14 and reduce the number of civil servants, Ukrainian newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) reported on Wednesday.
The decision was made on Tuesday at a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the cabinet, where they discussed concepts for the government’s transformation, the newspaper said.
The economy ministry will presumably be merged with the ministries for strategic industries and for agriculture to form a new ministry for economic development.
The ministry for digital transformation will swallow the national agency of public service and part of the ministry for strategic industries, the report said.
The changes will not affect the Ukrainian ministries of the interior, foreign affairs, justice, defense, finance, healthcare, and education, the newspaper reported.
The report added that the staff of state employees in the ministries’ central offices is planned to be downsized from 9,200 to 2,800, and in regional offices from 17,000 to about 7,000.