Following the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Ukraine the position replaced the Soviet post of chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, which was established on March 25, 1946.

The current prime minister is Denys Shmyhal, who was sworn in on 4 March 2020 following the resignation of Oleksiy Honcharuk.

The consent is deemed granted by the parliament when a simple majority of its constitutional membership votes in favour of the candidate nominated by the president.

The highest parliamentary approval to date was received by Yulia Tymoshenko who was appointed the prime minister on February 4, 2005, with 373 votes in the Verkhovna Rada.

The procedure of granting consent by the parliament is usually preceded by several days of comprehensive consultations and interviews of the candidate by the parliamentary factions.

For instance, in 1999, Valeriy Pustovoitenko fell three votes short of being re-confirmed after he tendered his resignation at the second inauguration of President Leonid Kuchma in 1999.

After the constitutional amendment of late 2004 and its reinstance in 2014, the president was restricted in their choice of prime minister and was virtually obliged to nominate the person proposed by the parliamentary coalition.

Among the most notable First deputies were Yukhym Zvyahilsky and Mykola Azarov, who served as the acting prime minister for a longer period of time than anyone else.

Valentyn Symonenko, Vasyl Durdynets, Oleksandr Turchynov, and others also served as acting prime minister.

[11] After the adoption of the current constitution in 1996, only prime ministers Pavlo Lazarenko and Mykola Azarov have left their post this way.

[10][11] Formally, the Verkhovna Rada needed to pass a resolution of no confidence of the cabinet, which had to result in the prime minister's resignation.