Ukraine restores Agriculture Ministry, Parliament votes for Taras Vysotskyi as minister

Ukraine's parliament has restored the standalone Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and appointed Taras Vysotskyi as its minister as part of the formation of a new cabinet on July 16.

The ministry was re-established after the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture was split into two separate government bodies: the Ministry of Economy and Environment and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi had previously proposed the restructuring.

One of the key arguments for restoring the ministry was the need to strengthen Ukraine's agricultural track in its European Union accession process.

"The main reason the restoration of the Agriculture Ministry is being discussed is European integration. The agricultural sector accounts for around 30-40% of the legislative changes required under the EU accession process. After the merger of the three ministries, the agricultural portfolio effectively lost its dedicated management structure, even though the workload continued to grow. The agriculture cluster has not yet been opened, so a separate institution is needed to take political responsibility for this area," a government source previously told Latifundist.com.

Before his appointment, Vysotskyi served as deputy minister at the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture. Earlier, he was first deputy minister of agrarian policy and briefly served as acting agriculture minister in 2024.

In April 2026, Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) referred to court a case concerning the procurement of food for humanitarian needs in 2022, in which Vysotskyi is one of the defendants.

The High Anti-Corruption Court held its first preparatory hearing in late April. Vysotskyi has denied the allegations, while several agricultural associations have publicly expressed support for him.

• Ukraine abolished the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on July 21, 2025, merging it with the Economy Ministry and the Environment Ministry to create the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture.