Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych introduces new Ukrainian Cabinet

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych introduced his Cabinet of Ministers on August 4, just minutes after the Verkhovna Rada affirmed his nomination.

Of its 24 members, at least nine belong to the Party of the Regions, at least five belong to the Our Ukraine faction and two represent the Socialist Party of Ukraine.

Though Yurii Yekhanurov will step down to become a national deputy in the Verkhovna Rada, eight of his ministers will remain in place.

Prime Minister and Party of the Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych, 56, returned to Ukraine's top leadership post after losing it during his failed presidential campaign in 2004, during which the Ukrainian Supreme Court ruled his government falsified the presidential elections.

Prior to serving as former President Leonid Kuchma's prime minister for two years starting in November 2002, Mr. Yanukovych served as the Donetsk Oblast administration chair for more than five years.

Mr. Yanukovych was born in Yenakiyeve, a town in the Donetsk Oblast, and spent most of his time working in the Donetsk Oblast. He has close ties to Rynat Akhmetov, Ukraine's wealthiest magnate.

First Vice Prime Minister/Minister of Finance Mykola Azarov, 58, of the Party of the Regions, managed to recapture the two Cabinet positions he held simultaneously while serving in Mr. Kuchma's government since November 2002.

During this tenure, Mr. Azarov created and implemented Ukraine's notoriously ineffective taxation system, which is responsible for much of the corruption that plagues the Ukrainian economy, said Ivan Lozowy, president of the Kyiv-based Institute of Statehood and Democracy, which is exclusively financed by Ukrainian business donations.

Born in the town of Kaluga in the Russian Federation, Mr. Azarov spent most of his life there and doesn't speak the Ukrainian language. Before entering politics, Mr. Azarov was a Moscow-educated geologist.

Vice Prime Minister for Fuel and Energy Issues Andrii Kliuyev, 42, who is also returning to the Cabinet after serving alongside Mr. Yanukovych in October 2002, is a Party of the Regions member.

During the falsified elections of 2004, Mr. Kliuyev led Mr. Yanukovych's underground election campaign, hatching fraudulent schemes and dirty tricks, Mr. Lozowy said.

Mr. Kliuyev built his career in the mines and factories of Donetsk, where he was born and spent his whole life.

Upon Ukrainian independence, Mr. Kliuyev became president of an industrial enterprise named Promkomservis, and then general director of Ukrpidshypnyk.

Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Issues Dmytro Tabachnyk, 42, is a longtime associate and close ally of Mr. Kuchma. Mr. Tabachnyk, of the Party of the Regions, chaired the former president's 1994 presidential campaign when he was only 30 years old.

After his victory, Mr. Kuchma appointed Mr. Tabachnyk presidential administration chair, a post he held until December 1996, during which time numerous embarrassing scandals erupted. Mr. Tabachnyk was born in Kyiv.

Gains in promoting the Ukrainian language and culture made by outgoing Minister Viacheslav Kyrylenko may be rolled back by Mr. Tabachnyk, who has revealed his disdain for both, Mr. Lozowy said.

Vice Prime Minister for Construction, Architecture and Residential-Communal Management Volodymyr Rybak is a Donetsk native. Mr. Rybak, 59, is a newcomer to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Mr. Rybak served as Donetsk's mayor between September 1993 and April 2002, the years during which the city's businessmen battled each other for control of the oblast's wealth.

Entering the Verkhovna Rada under the Party of the Regions ballot in 2002, Mr. Rybak served on its delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Minister of Fuel and Energy Yurii Boiko will assume the reins of one of Ukraine's most powerful ministries. Mr. Boiko, 47, ran Naftohaz for more than two years.

Mr. Boiko built his career as a chemist before taking leadership positions in Ukrainian companies dealing in oil.

He abandoned the Ukrainian Republican Party during the 2006 parliamentary elections to join Leonid Kravchuk's Ne Tak! bloc. He was born in the city of Horlivka in the Donetsk Oblast.

Minister of Justice Roman Zvarych has returned to Ukraine's Cabinet after causing the first embarrassing scandal for the administration of President Viktor Yushchenko. Mr. Zvarych, 52, was born in Yonkers, N.Y., to Ukrainian-born parents.

Mr. Zvarych has no formal legal education but has served on various high-profile committees in the Verkhovna Rada as a national deputy. He has also led the Our Ukraine bloc's legal department through the 2006 parliamentary elections.

In April 2005 Mr. Zvarych acknowledged to The Ukrainian Weekly that he never completed his master's degree at Columbia University, despite claiming so for eight years.

Minister of Internal Affairs Yurii Lutsenko is among the Orange Revolution's field commanders and veteran anti-Kuchma protester. Mr. Lutsenko, 41, a native of Rivne, announced on August 7 he would serve in Mr. Yanukovych's Cabinet.

Among only a handful of Cabinet members to remain in place since the revolution, Mr. Lutsenko is popular for trying to prosecute Ukraine's high-profile criminals and remove corruption from Ukraine's police force

Considered among the few untarnished and uncorrupted politicians in the Ukrainian government, Mr. Lutsenko was aggressively courted by the Party of the Regions for the polished image his presence would bring to the new government.

The minister of internal affairs isn't allowed to belong to a party. He has close links with the Socialists.

Minister of Family, Youth and Sports Yurii Pavlenko is a close Yushchenko associate. Mr. Pavlenko, 31, has also managed to remain in the Cabinet since the Revolution.

The history major and career politician is regarded as among the rising talents in Ukrainian politics largely due to his contacts within the Our Ukraine ranks.

Born in Kyiv, Mr. Pavlenko selected Mr. Kuchma as godfather for his elder son, and Kateryna Yushchenko as godmother for the younger one.

Minister of Transport and Communication Mykola Rudkovskyi is a member of the Socialist Party of Ukraine. Mr. Rudkovskyi takes the leadership of one of Ukraine's most corrupt ministries.

After winning the Chernihiv mayoral elections, he abandoned the post to serve in the Verkohvna Rada instead. His flip-flop cost the city government $100,000 to hold new elections. The so-called Socialist is also known for his taste in luxury sports cars and yachts.

The remaining members of the new government are:

Minister of Foreign Affairs - Borys Tarasyuk, 57, People's Rukh of Ukraine, born in the town of Dzerzhynsk in the Zhytomyr Oblast.

Minister of Defense - Anatolii Hrytsenko, 48, no party affiliation, born in the village of Bahachivka in the Cherkasy Oblast.

Ministers of the Economy - Volodymyr Makukha.

Minister of Culture and Tourism - Ihor Likhovyi.

Minister of Health - Yurii Poliachenko, 46, party affiliation unconfirmed, born in Kyiv.

Minister of Industrial Policy - Anatolii Holovko, 55, Our Ukraine bloc, born in the city of Drohobych in the Lviv Oblast.

Minister of the Agro-Industrial Complex - Yurii Melnyk, 44, Ukrainian People's Party, born in the town of Verkhniachka in the Cherkasy Oblast.

Minister of Education - Stanislav Nikolayenko, 50, Socialist Party of Ukraine, born in the village of Bohdanivka in the Kirovohrad Oblast.

Minister of Emergency Situations - Viktor Baloha, 43, Our Ukraine bloc, born in the village of Zavydove in the Zakarpattia Oblast.

Minister of Coal Industry - Serhii Tulub, 53, Party of the Regions, born in the city of Donetsk.

Minister of Verkhovna Rada Relations - Ivan Tkalenko, 51, Party of the Regions, born in the village of Fursy in the Kyiv Oblast.

Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers - Anatolii Tolstoukhov, 50, Party of the Regions, born in the town of Khartsyzk in the Donetsk Oblast.

Minister of Labor and Social Policy - Mykhailo Papiyev, 45, Ne Tak! Bloc, born in the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Minister of Environmental Defense - Vasyl Dzharty, 48, Party of the Regions, born in the village of Rozdolne in the Donetsk Oblast.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 13, 2006, No. 33, Vol. LXXIV

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