On July 17, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint the new Cabinet. Oleksiy Sobolev, who was previously the first deputy minister of economy, received the post of Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
In the newly formed large ministry, they will seek maximum synergy to implement plans across many areas, primarily European integration, deregulation, and investment support.
This was stated by Oleksiy Sobolev, Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
“We will combine the best practices of three ministries — Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Environment — and add modern tools: digital services, deregulation, entrepreneurship support, investment attraction, and access to international financing. We expect this to become a new institutional platform for a holistic vision of the country’s development,” said the minister.
He reminded that one of Ukraine’s strategic priorities is European integration.
“We have done a lot in this direction together with Taras Kachka and will continue in our new positions. This will be a cross-cutting policy of the government and the ministry as a whole. Currently, we are adapting legislation to EU legal standards in the fields of economy, agro-industry, ecology, and natural resources. The ministry will coordinate about 15 out of 35 negotiation chapters of future EU membership across all 6 clusters,” the minister added.
Another important component of their work, Sobolev said, will be attracting investments.
“We see many promising projects in the agro-industrial complex and environmental protection sectors that fit well with the Ukraine Investment Framework. Now we aim to attract as much funding as possible for projects in subsoil and water use, land reclamation, forestry, waste management, agro-processing, and more,” explained the minister.
He also promised large-scale deregulation, digitization of procedures, and reducing inspections for business.
“Where there were shortcomings in this area, we will do everything necessary across all three sectors we now oversee,” the minister noted.
Sobolev called the task ahead “objectively difficult” and expressed a desire to “work a lot” with business and civil society.
“We seek maximum synergy in the new large merged ministry to successfully implement all our plans. <…> And the last thing I want right now is to repeat mistakes. Therefore, I ask for help. We want to hear from business and the civil sector and work together a lot: meet, discuss common tasks, and implement them effectively. Also — respond quickly to problems,” concluded the head of the new ministry.
