President announces appointees to his new team in government (10/02/05)

President announces appointees to his new team in government

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko formed most of his new government by September 28, selecting a team he expects will work pragmatically and without the vicious in-fighting their predecessors engaged in.

To serve that cause, Mr. Yushchenko mostly chose appointees that belong to his Our Ukraine People's Union party or its allies.

Of 24 Cabinet positions, Mr. Yushchenko has replaced eight. Another 12 ministers will remain; among them are two switching their job titles.

Mr. Yushchenko has yet to name replacements for three positions, including that of justice minister, which was held by American-born Roman Zvarych. The president also created a Ministry of Construction and Architecture.

"The government of Mr. Yekhanurov will be one of stability and understanding, without large-scale plans for reform," said Vasyl Stoyakin, director of the Center for Political Marketing, which is financed by clients who pay for political research. "Yushchenko will be the ideologue, and Mr. Yekhanurov will be the implementer," he added.

Independent National Deputy Stanislav Stashevskyi became Ukraine's first vice prime minister, replacing Anatolii Kinakh, who took Petro Poroshenko's position as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Mr. Stashevskyi and Mr. Yekhanurov are like-minded thinkers, Mr. Stoyakin said.

Appearing to fulfill his commitment to remove wealthy businessmen with conflicts of interest, Mr. Yushchenko relieved trucking magnate Yevhen Chervonenko from the post of transportation minister and David Zhvania from the emergency situations minister post.

Yet, Mr. Yushchenko tapped another businessman, Viktor Baloha of the Our Ukraine faction, to replace Mr. Zhvania.

Mr. Baloha is a partner in a family business, Barva, which engages in wholesale trade of food products. He served as oblast administration chair for the Zakarpattia Oblast. In his Who's Who in Ukraine submission, Mr. Baloha stated that he was chair between May 1999 and June 2001.

"In the place of one businessman, another is appointed," Mr. Stoyakin commented.

"He hasn't separated business and politics, because to some extent everyone in government has their own business interests," said Ivan Lozowy, president of the Kyiv-based Institute of Statehood and Democracy, which is exclusively financed by Ukrainian business donations.

Mr. Yushchenko also signed an order relieving Mr. Zvarych, Culture and Tourism Minister Oksana Bilozir and Health Minister Mykola Polishchuk without naming their successors.

Mr. Zvarych began lobbying for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the matter of the Nikopol Ferroalloys Plant and got exposed when the government fell apart, Mr. Lozowy said.

"Zvarych left a bad taste for Yushchenko," Mr. Lozowy said. "He pressured the court system over Nikopol. He stumbled blindly from one disaster into another. But the last one was the nail in the coffin."

Roman Bezsmertnyi will remain as a vice prime minister, but his position changes from administrative reform to a newly created one: vice prime minister for regional policy.

Mr. Yekhanurov announced the creation of this position last week, causing speculation among political observers that it would be granted to a Party of the Regions politician.

However, it's apparent that the Party of the Regions won't occupy any seat in the Yushchenko government.

Viacheslav Kyrylenko, the former minister of social politics and labor, will replace Mykola Tomenko as vice prime minister for humanitarian affairs.

Both vice prime minister appointees are members of the Our Ukraine People's Union. Mr. Yushchenko has yet to name a replacement for Oleh Rybachuk, who served as vice prime minister for European integration.

Among Mr. Yushchenko's appointments are a handful of extremely young men, which can be a cause for concern, Mr. Lozowy said.

Replacing Serhii Teriokhin as minister of the economy is 31-year-old Arsenii Yatseniuk, who most recently served as the first assistant to the oblast administration chair of the Odesa Oblast.

Prior to that, Mr. Yatseniuk served as the first assistant to the National Bank of Ukraine chair, Serhii Tyhypko at the time, and economy minister in the Crimean Autonomous Republic.

According to Mr. Lozowy Mr. Yatseniuk is a Kuchma loyalist, who worked closely and engaged in corrupt schemes with Mr. Tyhypko, Viktor Yanukovych's former campaign manager. Even at his young age, Mr. Yatseniuk has a history of corrupt activity, he said.

"It's shocking that people like that could be appointed," Mr. Lozowy said. "His appointment proves to me the system of corruption is working well around Yushchenko."

Meanwhile, Mr. Yushchenko tapped 29-year-old Viktor Bodnar to lead the notoriously corrupt Transportation Ministry.

Mr. Bodnar is a lawyer whose last job was as an assistant to the director of the Cabinet of Ministers Secretariat. The biography he submitted to Who's Who in Ukraine indicated he has no experience working with transportation issues.

Thirty-year-old Yurii Pavlenko will remain as minister of family, youth and sports.

Also retaining their positions are Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko, Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk, Environment Minister Pavlo Ihnatenko, Industry Minister Volodymyr Shandra, Coal Minister Viktor Topolov, Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko, and Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov.

Mr. Pynzenyk, a member of the Reforms and Order Party, is the only minister representing a party belonging to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

Despite the alleged double-cross from the Socialist Party during the World Trade Organization voting in the Rada earlier this year, Mr. Yushchenko decided to keep two of its members, Agriculture Minister Oleksander Baranivskyi and Education and Science Minister Stanislav Nikolayenko, in the Cabinet.

Among Mr. Yushchenko's first new appointments was Ihor Drizhchanyi, who replaced Oleksander Turchynov to lead the Security Service of Ukraine.

Mr. Yushchenko also created a new Ministry of Construction and Architecture, which will be led by Pavlo Kachur, an Our Ukraine People's Union national deputy who most recently served as a member of the Verkhovna Rada's Budget Committee.

He also served as Mr. Yushchenko's first advisor during his years as prime minister between March 2000 and May 2001.

Replacing Mr. Kyrylenko as minister of social politics and labor is Ivan Sakhan, the director of Ukrayinskyi Aluminii (Ukrainian Aluminum), an enormous metals enterprise.

"I have no idea why he'd want this position other than to use government resources to bolster his business interests," Mr. Lozowy said of Mr. Sakhan. "That's what everyone does, and it's called corruption."

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