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| Volodymyr Groysman Approved as New Prime Minister by Ukraine’s Parliament | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — In Ukraine’s most sweeping political reshuffle since its revolution two years ago, Parliament voted Thursday to seat a close ally of the president as prime minister and handed critical ministerial posts to presidential staff members. | MOSCOW — In Ukraine’s most sweeping political reshuffle since its revolution two years ago, Parliament voted Thursday to seat a close ally of the president as prime minister and handed critical ministerial posts to presidential staff members. |
| The new prime minister, Volodymyr B. Groysman, will replace Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who resigned on Sunday. Mr. Yatsenyuk, a fluent English speaker, won praise in the West but was never able to manage Ukraine’s notoriously fractured Parliament, and he argued with President Petro O. Poroshenko. With his close ties to the president, Mr. Groysman will be expected to ease some of the rifts in the pro-European camp. | The new prime minister, Volodymyr B. Groysman, will replace Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who resigned on Sunday. Mr. Yatsenyuk, a fluent English speaker, won praise in the West but was never able to manage Ukraine’s notoriously fractured Parliament, and he argued with President Petro O. Poroshenko. With his close ties to the president, Mr. Groysman will be expected to ease some of the rifts in the pro-European camp. |
| The previous government was swept into power in 2014 on a wave of popular anger at the authoritarian, corrupt and Russian-aligned presidency of Viktor F. Yanukovych. But infighting soon broke out among the victors, paralyzing the government and stalling International Monetary Fund aid for an economy on life support. | The previous government was swept into power in 2014 on a wave of popular anger at the authoritarian, corrupt and Russian-aligned presidency of Viktor F. Yanukovych. But infighting soon broke out among the victors, paralyzing the government and stalling International Monetary Fund aid for an economy on life support. |
| Western countries — including the United States, which has increased military deployments in Eastern Europe along the western borders of Russia — have much at stake in Ukraine and are eager to prop up the country as a bulwark against Russian expansion. But the sharp-elbowed political fighting in Kiev and the failure to address deep-seated corruption that reaches the highest levels of the government are undermining those efforts. | Western countries — including the United States, which has increased military deployments in Eastern Europe along the western borders of Russia — have much at stake in Ukraine and are eager to prop up the country as a bulwark against Russian expansion. But the sharp-elbowed political fighting in Kiev and the failure to address deep-seated corruption that reaches the highest levels of the government are undermining those efforts. |
| The initial signs for Mr. Groysman’s government were not promising, as some pro-European lawmakers complained that it was concentrating evermore control in Ukraine’s business and political clans, which in the past has been an invitation to large-scale corruption. | The initial signs for Mr. Groysman’s government were not promising, as some pro-European lawmakers complained that it was concentrating evermore control in Ukraine’s business and political clans, which in the past has been an invitation to large-scale corruption. |
| “We are afraid there will be a monopolization of power,” Alex Ryabchyn, a member of Parliament in the Fatherland party of a former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, said in a telephone interview. The Fatherland party did not back Mr. Groysman for premier. | “We are afraid there will be a monopolization of power,” Alex Ryabchyn, a member of Parliament in the Fatherland party of a former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, said in a telephone interview. The Fatherland party did not back Mr. Groysman for premier. |
| With the vote, three of the five parties that favor closer ties with Europe are now in open opposition to Mr. Poroshenko’s government; two other pro-European parties backed the candidacy. | With the vote, three of the five parties that favor closer ties with Europe are now in open opposition to Mr. Poroshenko’s government; two other pro-European parties backed the candidacy. |
| Oleksandr Danylyuk, the deputy head of Mr. Poroshenko’s administration, was named minister of finance, replacing the American-born finance minister, Natalia Yaresko, who oversaw the bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and foreign creditors. | Oleksandr Danylyuk, the deputy head of Mr. Poroshenko’s administration, was named minister of finance, replacing the American-born finance minister, Natalia Yaresko, who oversaw the bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and foreign creditors. |
| Parliament elected as its new speaker Andriy Parubiy, an organizer of antigovernment street fighters during the 2014 uprising and a highly polarizing figure in Ukraine’s east-west divide. | Parliament elected as its new speaker Andriy Parubiy, an organizer of antigovernment street fighters during the 2014 uprising and a highly polarizing figure in Ukraine’s east-west divide. |
| Mr. Groysman, who at 38 will become Ukraine’s youngest prime minister ever, is widely seen as beholden to Mr. Poroshenko. Before moving to Kiev after the 2014 revolution and winning a seat in Parliament as a member of Mr. Poroshenko’s party, he had served as mayor of Vinnytsya, a city intertwined in the business empire of Mr. Poroshenko, a confectionary magnate. A charity fund of Mr. Poroshenko’s business, for example, cooperated with the city government in 2011 to build a new fountain there. | Mr. Groysman, who at 38 will become Ukraine’s youngest prime minister ever, is widely seen as beholden to Mr. Poroshenko. Before moving to Kiev after the 2014 revolution and winning a seat in Parliament as a member of Mr. Poroshenko’s party, he had served as mayor of Vinnytsya, a city intertwined in the business empire of Mr. Poroshenko, a confectionary magnate. A charity fund of Mr. Poroshenko’s business, for example, cooperated with the city government in 2011 to build a new fountain there. |
| The vote for Mr. Groysman was 257 to 50, a wide victory that could help him navigate Ukraine’s complex political waters with more success than his predecessor. But analysts say they doubt he has the political backing, even from the two parties that openly support him, to carry out a badly needed economic overhaul and a peace agreement with Russia and Russian-backed militants in eastern Ukraine, as demanded by the country’s Western allies. | The vote for Mr. Groysman was 257 to 50, a wide victory that could help him navigate Ukraine’s complex political waters with more success than his predecessor. But analysts say they doubt he has the political backing, even from the two parties that openly support him, to carry out a badly needed economic overhaul and a peace agreement with Russia and Russian-backed militants in eastern Ukraine, as demanded by the country’s Western allies. |
| The peace agreement, known as Minsk II, is being held up by a small but important party that is dead set against changing the Constitution to grant the separatist areas of eastern Ukraine the degree of autonomy called for in the accord. | The peace agreement, known as Minsk II, is being held up by a small but important party that is dead set against changing the Constitution to grant the separatist areas of eastern Ukraine the degree of autonomy called for in the accord. |
| Opponents of Mr. Groysman, who served previously as speaker of Parliament, greeted his election with shouts of “Shame! Shame!” He seemed to take that in stride, saying in his acceptance speech, “All these discussions in this hall will go down in history as just words.” He added, “The shame is on those who in 24 years haven’t given the people a good life.” | Opponents of Mr. Groysman, who served previously as speaker of Parliament, greeted his election with shouts of “Shame! Shame!” He seemed to take that in stride, saying in his acceptance speech, “All these discussions in this hall will go down in history as just words.” He added, “The shame is on those who in 24 years haven’t given the people a good life.” |
| Mr. Groysman said tackling corruption, opposing populism and improving state management would take priority in his government, despite the simmering conflict in the country’s east. | Mr. Groysman said tackling corruption, opposing populism and improving state management would take priority in his government, despite the simmering conflict in the country’s east. |