Oleksiy Honcharuk confirmed as PM
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the Verkhovna Rada’s appointment of Oleksiy Honcharuk as the country’s next prime minister during the first session of Parliament following elections that swept his Servant of the People party to an unprecedented mandate. The decision was backed by 290 MPs registered out of 450 seats (not all the seats are filled, because Russia occupies Crimea and the conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts). Mr. Honcharuk, a 35-year-old deputy head in the Presidential Office, was chosen as the candidate by Mr. Zelenskyy, according to a parliamentary draft resolution at the August 29 inaugural session, where the former comedian-turned politician is to deliver a state-of-the-nation address where he will outline his political and economic goals, along with key Cabinet posts. Mr. Honcharuk has spent much of his career as a lawyer, eventually becoming a lead partner at a firm that specializes in real estate development.