January 21 marked six months since the creation of the new mega-ministry—a merger of the Ministry of Economy with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
The transition period, during which management processes were reorganized and changes were made to personnel and management structures, has come to an end. Only one deputy minister, who has almost no experience in the field of environmental protection, has moved from the Ministry of Environmental Protection to the new agency. So who are the people now representing environmental policy in Ukraine?
Today, EcoPolitic will provide readers with a detailed overview of the Deputy Ministers of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev, who are now shaping the environmental agenda in Ukraine, setting priorities, and determining the directions for the state in the environmental sector.
According to the organizational chart of the ministry, as of early February, the head of the Ministry of Economy had 12 deputies. The position of First Deputy remains vacant.
Regarding the deputies responsible for environmental issues, there are some discrepancies between the organizational chart and the information the ministry provided in response to EcoPolitica's inquiry. According to data posted on the website, Minister Sobolev has seven such deputies. They are:
- Yegor Perelygin;
- Vitalii Kindrativ;
- Taras Vysotskyi;
- Ihor Zubovych;
- Iryna Ovcharenko;
- Dariia Marchak;
- an unnamed Deputy Minister (presumably appointed on January 30, Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, who has significant experience in the field of environmental protection).
In its response dated February 6, the Ministry of Economy stated that issues related to the protection and use of the environment and natural resources fall under the competence of only six deputy ministers: Taras Vysotskyi, Ihor Zubovych, Vitalii Kindrativ, Dariia Marchak, Iryna Ovcharenko, and Yegor Perelygin. There is no mention of the new deputy, who is to coordinate the largest number of environmental units in the agency, even though a week has already passed since the appointment of Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi.
Yegor Perelygin
Photo: facebook.com / yegor.perelygin
Yegor Perelygin has only symbolic experience in the environmental field: he worked for three months as deputy to Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, and before that, he had no connection to the sector. Perelygin was the only Deputy Minister who moved to the merged ministry after the liquidation of the Ministry of Environment.
The main specialization of the official based on his professional experience is the banking sector and subsoil use. He is a specialist in the field of critical minerals and often speaks at industry events with presentations as an expert.
At the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources he was responsible for interaction with the State Service of Geology and Subsoil, the study and rational use of subsoil, environmental tax, and environmental education.
At the Ministry of Economy, he oversees:
- The Department of Natural Resources and Subsoil Use.
- The Department for Investment Attraction and Cooperation with International Organizations. This particular unit is responsible for the high-profile Ukrainian-American agreement on subsoil, as well as attracting investments and international technical assistance in the areas of subsoil and forest resource utilization.
Vitaliy Kindrativ
Photo: facebook.com / vitaly.kindrativ/
He is an economist-manager by education. His total civil service experience exceeds 20 years. The official has approximately 2.5 years of work experience in the field of environmental protection.
At different times, he worked in the department for monitoring ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and in the Department of Environmental Safety and Waste Management of the ministry.
He worked at the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, in several ministries, led the State Service for Maritime and Inland Water Transport and Shipping, and the state institution "Derzhhydrographia".
The divisions of the Ministry of Economy and Environmental Protection that he supervises:
- The Department of Environmental Assessment.
- The Department of Environmental and Chemical Safety and Management of Chemical Products.
Taras Vysotskyi
Photo: facebook.com / agrireforms
He has considerable experience in public administration and the agricultural sector. He received two master’s degrees – in management and in integrated natural resource management.
Worked in business and headed a leading agricultural association. Held managerial positions in government bodies, including serving as the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy before the ministries were merged.
In the Ministry of Economy and Environment, he is responsible for policy development and forest resources protection.
Ihor Zubovych
Photo: life.znaj.ua
This official has been in public service since 2009. Since 2017, he held various positions within the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine: headed the SEI in Kherson region, led the inspectorate's unit for the South-Western District, and served as acting head of the SEI for over 3.5 years.
In the merged Ministry of Economy and Environment, he oversees the work of the following departments:
- Department of Protected Areas and Biodiversity.
- Department of Environmental Protection, Industrial Pollution Prevention and Control.
Iryna Ovcharenko
Photo: saee.gov.ua
A specialist with many years of experience in water resource management and the development of reclamation infrastructure. Worked for two years in the State Committee for Water Management of Ukraine. For 15 years, she held various positions in the State Agency for Water Resources, leading the agency for 4 of them.
She joined the Ministry of Economy and Environment team in September 2025. Iryna Ovcharenko coordinates the work of:
- Department for Waste Management Issues.
- Department for Regulation of Fisheries, Reclamation, Water Resources and Marine Ecosystems (for reclamation, water resources, and marine ecosystems).
Dariya Marchak
Photo: oppb.com.ua
She has experience in journalism, served as an advisor to two ministers on communications and public administration reform, and from 2019 to 2022 was the Deputy Head at the state-owned enterprise "Prozorro.Sales" when it was headed by Oleksiy Sobolev.
Тhree years, Daria Marchak was the First Deputy Minister of Social Policy: she was responsible for pension reform, changing approaches to social benefits, in particular advocating for cutting supplements and pensions for prosecutors and other law enforcement representatives, and developing the country’s demographic strategy.
She joined the team of former leader Oleksii Sobolev at the end of July 2025, almost immediately after the Ministry of Economy merged with two other ministries.
Marchak oversees the international cooperation division in the field of environment and natural resources within the Department of Economic Cooperation with the European Union and Countries of the World.
Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi
Photo: facebook.com / DRegSU
This deputy unexpectedly joined the Ministry of Economy team on January 30. He replaced Pavlo Kartashov, who had been dismissed by the government two days earlier. Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi moved to the Ministry of Economy from the position of First Deputy Head of the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine.
The environmental sector is not new to this official. He served as Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources both during the tenure of Minister Roman Abramovsky and later under Ruslan Strilets. He worked for over a year as First Deputy at the Ministry of Environment.
If, after taking office, Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi received the same list of duties as Pavlo Kartashov, the following divisions of the ministry are now under his supervision:
- Climate Change Department.
- External Coordination and Development Department in the Field of Environmental Protection.
- Coordination Sector for the Implementation of the National Energy and Climate Plan.
