The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has defined the issues falling within the competence of Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy – Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna.
According to Resolution No. 984 dated July 29, Berezhna’s competence includes issues of culture and arts, protection of cultural heritage; export, import, and return of cultural property; state language policy; cinematography; preservation of national memory; interethnic relations, religion, and protection of the rights of national minorities of Ukraine.
The Vice Prime Minister will also be responsible for state information policy regarding the reintegration of temporarily occupied territory, state policy in the sphere of information sovereignty and information security of Ukraine; promoting Ukraine’s entry into the global information space, enhancing its international prestige, forming a positive image of the state as a reliable and predictable partner; and ensuring interaction of executive authorities with the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting.
In addition, her competence includes issues of: education and science; scientific, technical, and innovation activity; youth, physical culture, and sports; and national-patriotic education.
Berezhna will also be responsible for social policy; mandatory state social and pension insurance; social protection; family and children, health improvement and recreation of children, adoption and protection of children’s rights, combating human trafficking, restoration of the rights of persons deported on national grounds; pension provision for citizens, monitoring financial resources for timely provision of pension and allowance payments; and provision of social services.
The Vice Prime Minister’s competence will also cover the organization of work on the formulation and implementation of state policy on national unity of Ukraine; protection of rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens residing in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine; organization of work on the formulation and implementation of state policy on territorial integrity, temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine; temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and the population residing in it, their reintegration into the unified constitutional space of Ukraine; internally displaced persons, promoting the realization of their rights and freedoms and creating conditions for voluntary return of such persons to their abandoned place of residence after reintegration of territories into the unified constitutional space of Ukraine or integration at a new place of residence in Ukraine.
Berezhna’s competence also includes application of international humanitarian law norms on the territory of Ukraine, peacebuilding, restoration, and development of the temporarily occupied territory after reintegration into the unified constitutional space of Ukraine. In addition, she will be responsible for ensuring interaction of executive authorities with the National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Provision of Postal Services, and the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council; ensuring interaction of executive authorities on humanitarian assistance; labor, employment, labor migration, labor relations, and social dialogue; and tourism.
Furthermore, the government determined that in the event of the absence of the Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy, her powers will be exercised by Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Vsevolod Chentsov.
As reported, on July 16, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Chairman of the Board of Joint-Stock Company (JSC) Naftogaz Ukrainy Serhiy Koretsky as Prime Minister of Ukraine and, upon his submission, approved the new Cabinet of Ministers.
