Ihor Petrashko Takes Over at Ukraine’s Economy Ministry. Who Is He?

The Ukrainian parliament has appointed Ihor Petrashko, who previously worked in business, as the new Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture.

243 MPs voted in favor of the decision.

Petrashko will head the joint Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture. Earlier, during the formation of the new government of Denys Shmyhal, this ministry was set to be divided, with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy making a comeback. However, this idea has now been abandoned.

Petrashko is 44 years old, and he spent 20 years in business. In 2004-2007 he worked first in Moscow and then in the Kyiv office of Ernst & Young, later in the investment company "Troika Dialog Ukraine".

Until 2013, the new Minister of Economic Development worked at the Russian state-owned Sberbank.

In April 2013, he started working in the agro-industrial complex at Ukrlandfarming, a company belonging to the fugitive oligarch Oleg Bakhmatyuk.

Petrashko receives the economy in a rather difficult state: the decline of manufacturing, the slowdown in economic growth and the likely onset of the economic crisis due to the pandemic of the coronavirus.

READ MORE: New Cabinet, Old Problems: The Economy Inherited by Shmyhal’s Government

Prior to Petrashko, Tymofiy Mylovanov, president and co-founder of the Kyiv School of Economics, headed the Economy Ministry. After his resignation, Mylanovov said the division of the ministry into the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy would mark the end of land reform and thus refused the offer to head the latter.

READ MORE: Ukrainian Economy Minister Defends Land Reform

Similarly, former official Roman Zhukovsky, who was proposed to head the Ministry of Economy, also turned down the offer. Until now, despite the economic downturn and consequent resignation of former PM Oleksiy Honcharuk, Mylovanov remained at the helm of the ministry.