On January 13, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a decision to dismiss Mykhailo Fedorov from the post of First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. After this, the question of the new head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation remains open.
At present, an official candidacy for the position of head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation has not been approved. Several possible candidates are being discussed in political and expert circles, including the current deputy ministers. Among the possible candidates are Oleksiy Vyskub, Oleksandr Bornyakov, and Valeria Ionan.
Olexiy Vyskub is considered one of the key architects of the Diya ecosystem. Before starting work at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, he managed informatization projects in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and also headed the municipal enterprise “Main Information, Communication, and Scientific and Production Center” of the regional council.
Olexiy Bornyakov has significant experience in the field of IT entrepreneurship and worked as one of the first deputies of Mykhailo Fedorov. He received an MBA in Canada, specializes in the digital economy, legislation in the field of virtual assets, and Web3 technologies. In the past, he was engaged in business in Odessa, and in 2007 he founded the IT company SoftTechnics, which was later acquired by the American company Intersog.
Valeria Ionan previously held the position of Deputy Minister and was an advisor to Fedorov. During her six years at the Ministry of Digital Affairs, she participated in the implementation of the WINWIN strategy, the launch of the “Action.Education” and “Action.Business” projects, as well as in the development of digital public services, which allowed Ukraine to enter the top five world leaders in this area.
Mykhailo Fedorov remains the youngest government official in the history of Ukraine — he is currently 34 years old. He began his career in the Cabinet of Ministers at the age of 28, heading the Ministry of Digital Transformation on August 29, 2019. He was born in the city of Vasylivka, Zaporizhia region, and received his higher education from Zaporizhia National University.
Before entering the civil service, Fedorov was engaged in entrepreneurial activities, managing the Internet agency SMMSTUDIO in 2015–2019. In 2019, he became one of the key strategists of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s digital election campaign and initiated the creation of the electronic public services service “Diya”.
