Yushchenko shows signs of impatience with his prime minister after fuel crisis (05/29/05)

Yushchenko shows signs of impatience with his prime minister after fuel crisis

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko reportedly lost his patience with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and suggested that she resign during a high-level conference with Russian oil executives on May 19.

Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, Ukraine's weekly analytical newspaper, confirmed with "four conference participants" the details of the conflict as revealed by a trusted confidant of Ms. Tymoshenko.

According to Ms. Tymoshenko's anonymous confidant, in his alleged emotional outburst, the president also said that "Ukraine's government is the worst in Europe and he regrets selecting Ms. Tymoshenko to her position."

The president's remarks came as he tried to resolve a fuel crisis in which Ms. Tymoshenko accused Russian oil executives of artificially inflating prices, as much as 10 to 15 percent in recent months, in order to destabilize the independent-minded Yushchenko government.

In response, Mr. Yushchenko issued a presidential decree on May 18 stating that the prime minister's decision to implement price controls violated market principles and that the government could no longer resort to such tactics. The decree re-established a market-oriented environment in Ukraine's oil-refining industry.

According to the confidant, when the May 21 meeting began, Ms. Tymoshenko immediately told those present that she disagreed with the first part of the president's order, in which he said the government's response to the crisis was not market-oriented.

At this point, the president reportedly apologized to the Russian oil executives that the Ukrainian government did not allow them to conduct business.

That's when he reportedly made the remark about Ukraine's government being the worst in Europe and that he regretted appointing Ms. Tymoshenko.

He then reportedly suggested that she join the Social Democratic Party - United (SDPU) and resign.

The remarks were not serious, said Petro Miroshnykov, chair of the gasoline company Alians-Ukraina.

"The phrase really did come up, that if something doesn't please you, you can resign," Mr. Miroshnykov told Channel 5, Ukraine's 24-hour news channel, during a May 22 interview. "But it wasn't serious at all."

That seemed to be the consensus of all those present, including Ms. Tymoshenko herself, who asked reporters to ignore "political rumors and gossip" when asked about the incident the same day.

An anonymous source in President Yushchenko's camp offered a separate version.

Mr. Yushchenko reportedly called upon the Russians to conduct themselves as business partners and to refrain from organizing a fuel crisis every time Ukraine's sowing season begins.

He also reportedly said the government used excessive non-market levers in regulating the crisis.

Ms. Tymoshenko repeated that she was convinced the Ukrainian government conducted itself properly during the crisis, according to Dzerkalo Tyzhnia's anonymous sources.

At that point, the president didn't dwell on the matter and reportedly asked Ms. Tymoshenko to refrain from making such comments in public, which reveal disunity in the leadership.

Even after Mr. Yushchenko's repeated admonitions, Ms. Tymoshenko reportedly brought up her disagreement a third time, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia's sources said.

She then thanked Ukrainian and Tatar companies and said she would conduct a separate meeting with the Russians, sources said.

In that case, Mr. Yushchenko reportedly said, Ms. Tymoshenko can write a letter of resignation and join the SDPU and Party of the Regions supporters in blowing horns and beating their drums.

"We work as a team, therefore, discussions can only take place at the discussion stage," the president reportedly said. "After a decision has been made, there is no place for discussion. Those who do not agree can resign."

This remark was not directed at Ms. Tymoshenko personally, but the president's team as a whole, said Vitalii Chepinoha, Ms. Tymoshenko's press secretary, who added that the anonymous sources and journalists presented the meeting "in a somewhat distorted fashion."

Political analysts said Ms. Tymoshenko isn't resigning over this, but future similar conflicts are likely.

"It's obvious the president said this phrase in heat and there's no serious discussion of Ms. Tymoshenko's resignation," said Oles Donii, the head of the Center for Research of Political Values.

Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Research, said it won't be the last sharp conflict between Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko, and more conflicts are likely to flare up in the autumn as they gear up for parliamentary elections.

Ms. Tymoshenko's fate is similar to that of Mr. Yushchenko in 2001, Mr. Fesenko said, when a coalition of left-wing, oligarchic and Communist political fractions in the Verkhovna Rada voted to oust him.

In the days following the reported flare-up, both Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko did their best to appear at peace and insisted no serious conflict exists.

The day Dzerkalo Tyzhnia reported its story, Ms. Tymoshenko said that her relations with the president are warm and friendly.

"That's how it was yesterday, that's how it was today, and that's how it will always be," Ms. Tymoshenko said.

Both she and Mr. Yushchenko deeply value their relationship and she is convinced that no one can ruin their relationship, dismissing the reports as "information diversions."

"We are one team that came to power seriously and for a long time," Ms. Tymoshenko said. "We feel an immense responsibility before the people who brought us to power, who are hoping and counting on us. We will never betray their hopes."

In response to the reports, the president's press secretary, Iryna Heraschenko, said Mr. Yushchenko's words were interpreted in the wrong way.

On the Sunday following the reported conflict, Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko joined other government leaders at a requiem service honoring Taras Shevchenko, which was held in Kaniv.

"He sees how we're rising," Mr. Yushchenko said of the great Ukrainian bard. "Maybe with fights, with pain, maybe with gasoline crises, maybe with problems with meat, but Ukraine is rising. We are united and not dividable on any issue."

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