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Thread ID: 20060 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2005-09-07
2005-09-07 11:49 | User Profile
Ukrainian President and PM Hold Crisis Talks on Corruption Accusations
Created: 06.09.2005 18:17 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:17 MSK**<script> document.write(get_ago(1126016257)); </script>**
MosNews
<nobr>[url="http://www.mosnews.com/mn-files/Ukraine.shtml#profile"][img]http://www.mosnews.com/i/mn_file.gif[/img][/url][url="http://www.mosnews.com/mn-files/Ukraine.shtml#news"]**Ukrainian**[/url]</nobr> President Viktor Yushchenko held crisis talks with his prime minister on Tuesday in a scramble to repair damage after his chief of staff suddenly quit, accusing top officials of corruption, Reuters reports.
Yushchenko ââ¬â brought to power in last yearââ¬â¢s ââ¬ÅOrange Revolutionââ¬Â with a pledge to rid Ukraine of corruption ââ¬â met Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and other officials to try to avert a full-blown political crisis after Oleksander Zinchenkoââ¬â¢s resignation.
ââ¬ÅA meeting of the countryââ¬â¢s leadership is taking place in the presidential headquarters at the moment. It will be followed by the meeting of the National Defence and Security Council,ââ¬Â a presidential spokeswoman told the privately owned Fifth TV channel.
Yushchenko cancelled a visit to Poland where he planned to take part in an economic forum later this week, Reuters added.
Zinchenko resigned on Saturday to protest at what he said was rising official corruption in the new government, which faces a parliamentary election in March.
He accused officials close to Yushchenko of trying to repeat the worst practices of the previous government.
He demanded the resignations of Petro Poroshenko, the secretary of the National Defence and Security Council, and Oleksander Tretyakov, first aide to the president.
ââ¬ÅThis declaration hurt President Yushchenkoââ¬â¢s position a lot and shows there are serious contradictions in the team and a tough fight is under way,ââ¬Â Valery Konovalyuk, an opposition parliamentary deputy was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Poroshenko denied all accusations of corruption, and said Zinchenko had failed to present any proof.
Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has persistently been rated as one of the worldââ¬â¢s most corrupt countries by international anti-graft bodies.
When pro-Western liberal Yushchenko came to power, many hoped for a fresh start. But so far his team has had more failures than successes with economic growth slowing, inflation rising and investors remaining on the sidelines. Frequent public rows on policy have become a hallmark of the young government.
[url="http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/06/corruptiontalks.shtml"]http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/06/corruptiontalks.shtml[/url]
2005-09-07 13:31 | User Profile
The amount of smoke that the American-Jewish Neocons blew up the tail of Victor Yushenko, you'd've thought the guy was the New Messiah bringing fire and brimstone to "liberate" the Ukrainians from bondage and slavery. The hottie prime minister Timoshenko was already well known as corrupt, but that was air-brushed over in the media. Is anyone surprised now?
According to the American-Jewish media, once Yushenko was properly elected, Ukraine would be a model of democracy and every Ukraine would prosper and be free. They said Putin and Russia were an undemocratic, corrupt influence on their former colonies. They innuendoed that the evil Putin poisoned Yushenko.
Yes, that's those same American-Jewish neocons who told you that 9/11 was a "surprise" and told you about Saddam's WMD's, rape rooms, unmaned flying drones, Iraqis welcoming American GI with flowers and candy, and that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are our best allies.
There's not a shred of credibility in anything the US government says anymore.
2005-09-08 15:39 | User Profile
*CYA time --
Several officials have resigned from the government in recent days, citing corruption. It is the first scandal under Yushchenko, who was elected after an "Orange Revolution" protesting results of the previous vote that put Yushchenko's opposition in office.
Those fired on Thursday included Prime Minister Yulia Tymoschenko. Yuriy Yekhanurov, a member of parliament, was appointed as acting prime minister.
Saying the government had lost its "team spirit," Yushchenko added that he would ask regional governor Yuri Yekhanurov to form a new Cabinet.
"I am setting before the new team one task -- the ability to work as one ... The moment is right when (the old team) have lost their team spirit," Reuters quoted Yushchenko as saying.
"We need to halt the disappointment in society and make sure that ideals (of the Orange Revolution) are not cast into doubt," he said.
Some analysts saw Yekhanurov as a stop-gap prime minister. Others said the stage was set for a show-down between the president and Tymoshenko in parliamentary elections set for March 2006. There was no immediate word from Tymoshenko herself.
"Sacking Tymoshenko also sets things up for a clash between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko in the March 2006 parliamentary elections, which will split the reform camp," Tim Ash, emerging markets analyst at Bear Stearns in London, told Reuters.
"With clear evidence that the economy is slowing, Ukraine needs strong government and good coordination of economic policy," Ash said.
Local journalist Roman Olearchyk told CNN that Tymoshenko was personally almost as popular as Yushchenko so she would be a major contender in a future clash.
Yushchenko also accepted the resignation of Secretary of the National Defense and Security Council, Petro Poroshenko, a close ally who had been named in a corruption probe.
An opinion poll published Wednesday found that Yushchenko's approval ratings have been on the slide.
The poll, conducted last month by Ukraine's Razumkov think-tank before the latest corruption allegations, found that for the first time since the Orange Revolution, the percentage of Ukrainians who think the country is headed in the wrong direction exceeds those who think it's in good shape.
Forty-three percent said Ukraine was on the wrong path, a jump from the 23 percent who thought that in April.
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has been often rated one of the world's most corrupt countries by international anti-graft bodies.
[url="http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/08/ukraine.yushchenko/index.html"]http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/08/ukraine.yushchenko/index.html[/url]
2005-09-08 16:47 | User Profile
While news about "orange" revolution were plastered for weeks in the top news section, I don't see this one on my news ticker's top stories.
Incidentally, it's top news in Russia.
2005-09-20 12:29 | User Profile
I must say that I'm shocked, shocked!
Exiled Russian Tycoon Confirms He Funded Yushchenko
Created: 17.09.2005 12:28 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:47 MSK**<script> document.write(get_ago(1127040455)); </script>**
MosNews
Exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky has given a detailed account of his contacts with Ukraineââ¬â¢s leaders, including telephone calls with President Viktor Yushchenko, whose aides insist he never spoke to him.
His interview with Reuters is likely to add to a political storm in Kiev, where accusations the president received funds from Berezovsky surfaced days after Yushchenko sacked his prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, last week.
The billionaire confessed he had spoken repeatedly to Yushchenko by telephone, met his top aides and agreed to help him become
I was really surprised that the people who are around Yushchenko, who are close to him, lie so much,ââ¬Å Berezovsky said.
ââ¬ÂThey are really lying, saying they didnââ¬â¢t know me, they didnââ¬â¢t visit me, they didnââ¬â¢t do anything with me and so on.ââ¬Å
Yushchenkoââ¬â¢s aides have denied they accepted cash from Berezovsky. His chief of staff has said the president has never spoken to the exiled opponent of the Kremlin, once seen as one of the most powerful men in post-Soviet Russia.
Berezovsky said acting Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Roman Bezsmertny and acting Emergencies Minister David Zhvania had met him repeatedly ââ¬Âin this office,ââ¬Å asking for financial support and other assistance.
Although he had not met Yushchenko in person, Berezovsky described regular phone calls before, during and after the revolution.
Berezovsky confirmed that documents which emerged this week were genuine evidence of payments he had made, but declined to comment on who had received payments or what the money was for.
Yushchenko won the re-run of a rigged election after weeks of street demonstrations dubbed the ââ¬ÂOrange Revolution,ââ¬Å becoming Ukraineââ¬â¢s president in January.
ââ¬ÂI decided to help (him) because I was 100 percent sure that Ukraine would be an example for Russia to move forward to democracy,ââ¬Å Berezovsky said.
Ukraineââ¬â¢s first post-independence president, Leonid Kravchuk, triggered uproar in the country this week by announcing he had seen documents which showed payments by Berezovsky to Yushchenkoââ¬â¢s political movement.
Kravchuk said the accusations could be grounds for impeachment. Kiev denied them.
Berezovsky said he believed his own links to Yushchenkoââ¬â¢s supporters had been made public because Moscow-backed opponents of Yushchenko were trying to discredit the countryââ¬â¢s leaders and deepen a split between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko.
[url="http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/17/berezaconfirms.shtml"]http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/17/berezaconfirms.shtml[/url]