Quotable notes

"Lazarenko was a natural phenomenon in the chaos that followed the creation of the independent [Ukrainian] state, [the chaos characterized by] the total absence of the understanding that national interests should be a priority, the domination of private interests, the uncontrollability and corruptibility of the entire power system, and the immaturity of society itself. Without a doubt, he was a gifted man. I would have never hit upon [the ideas he had]."

- Opposition Sobor Party leader Anatolii Matvienko on former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who is in a U.S. prison awaiting trial on charges of laundering $114 million through private U.S. financial establishments as quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda website on January 23 and reported by RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report. When Mr. Lazarenko was prime minister (May 1996-July 1997), Mr. Matvienko was chairman of the Vinnytsia Oblast administration and headed the pro-presidential National Democratic Party.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 16, 2003, No. 7, Vol. LXXI

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