Ukrainian PM on way out in govt reshuffle

Ukraine's parliament was on Wednesday expected to accept the resignation of Oleksiy Honcharuk as prime minister after he spent just six months in the post, paving the way for a Cabinet reshuffle.

With Honcharuk's resignation subject to a vote in a parliamentary committee, a session of the legislature was due to be held later on Wednesday in which the final approval of the move would be made, including on the makeup of the new Cabinet.

Honcharuk submitted his letter of resignation after only half a year in the job, and was expected to be succeeded by Denys Shmygal, one of his deputies. Shmygal had previously served as head of the regional administration in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Zelensky decided to replace Honcharuk because he was not pleased with the government's performance on economic issues, Agence France-Presse reported.

Honcharuk first offered his resignation in January after he was caught on tape saying that Zelensky "knows nothing about the economy". But Zelensky asked Honcharuk to stay in the job.

Economists said the surprise nomination of the new prime minister would put into the spotlight Ukraine's commitment to reforms, coming days after the country received a team from the International Monetary Fund as it seeks approval for a $5.5 billion loan.