MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has said that he has offered the post of the country’s head of government to First Deputy Prime Minister and Economics Minister Yulia Sviridenko.

"I invited Yulia Sviridenko to become Ukraine’s prime minister and seriously overhaul the government’s work. I expect her to present a roadmap for the new government’s work within days," he wrote on his Telegram channel after a meeting with Sviridenko.

After much speculation in the Ukrainian media that Zelensky might dismiss incumbent Prime Minister Denis Smygal, the RBC-Ukraine agency reported on Monday that Svirdenko would be replacing him. According to the agency, Shmygal may be appointed defense minister to succeed Rustem Umerov, who, in turn, is likely to be appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. The Ukrainian mass media say that Sviridenko is close to the Zelensky office’s head Andrey Yermank.

Shmygal became prime minister on March 4, 2020 and is the longest-serving head of government ever.