Former head of Ukrzaliznytsia Wojciech Balczun appointed minister in Poland

Wojciech Balczun , the former chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia , has been appointed to a new government in Poland. This was announced on Wednesday, July 23, by the country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, writes PAP .

Balchun to replace Jakub Jaworski as Minister of State Assets.

Prior to this appointment, Balchun served as President of the Industrial Development Agency.

He previously managed PKO BP Bank in Poland and was President of the Board of PKP Cargo from 2008 to 2013. PKP Cargo is one of the largest rail carriers in Europe, and Balczun successfully restructured the company, defined its development strategy and listed it on the stock exchange.

In 2016-2017, Balchun headed Ukrzaliznytsia as Chairman of the Board.

The reshuffle will reduce the Polish government from 26 to 21 ministers. Tusk explained that the previous government was too big, and its reduction is aimed at rationalizing the work, because "when too many people talk about the same topic, it is more difficult to make decisions.".

It is also planned to reduce the staff at the level of state secretaries and undersecretaries after the appointment of ministers.

Radoslaw Sikorski retained his post as Poland's foreign minister, and his deputy, Stefan Krajewski, took over the important Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture instead of Czeslaw Sekerski.

The new ministers are to be sworn in on Thursday, and the first meeting of the new government is to be held on Friday.

• on July 17, the composition of the government in Ukraine also changed .