Viktor Yanukovych

Viktor Yanukovych Віктор Янукович
President of Ukraine
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 February 2010
Prime Minister	Yulia Tymoshenko Oleksandr Turchynov (Acting) Mykola Azarov
Preceded by	Viktor Yushchenko
Prime Minister of Ukraine
In office 21 November 2002 – 7 December 2004
President	Leonid Kuchma
Preceded by	Anatoliy Kinakh
Succeeded by	Mykola Azarov (Acting)
In office 28 December 2004 – 5 January 2005
President	Leonid Kuchma
Preceded by	Mykola Azarov (Acting)
Succeeded by	Mykola Azarov (Acting)
In office 4 August 2006 – 18 December 2007
President	Viktor Yushchenko
Preceded by	Yuriy Yekhanurov
Succeeded by	Yulia Tymoshenko
Governor of Donetsk Region
In office 14 May 1997 – 21 November 2002
Preceded by	Volodymyr Sherban
Succeeded by	Anatoliy Blyzniuk
Personal details
Born	(1950-07-09) 9 July 1950 Yenakiieve, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Political party	Independent (2010–present)
Other political affiliations	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1980–1991) Party of Regions (2003–2010)
Spouse	Lyudmilla Oleksandrivna
Children	Olexander Viktor
Alma mater	Donetsk Polytechnic Institute
Profession	Mechanical engineer
Signature
Website	President's website

Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (Ukrainian: ) (born July 9, 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.

Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002. Subsequently he was Prime Minister of Ukraine from November 21, 2002 to December 31, 2004, under President Leonid Kuchma, and he was an unsuccessful candidate in the controversial 2004 presidential election, ultimately losing to Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych continued to lead his party, the Party of Regions, after the 2004 election, and he served as Prime Minister for a second time from August 4, 2006 to December 18, 2007 under President Yushchenko. On March 3, 2010, Yanukovych transferred the leadership of the party to Mykola Azarov.

Yanukovych was the top vote-getter in the first round of the January 2010 presidential election, and faced Yulia Tymoshenko in the second round of the election. Yanukovych won the second round of the election with 48.95% of the vote against Tymoshenko's 45.47%. He is the first directly elected president in Ukraine's history to win with less than 50% of the vote.

Early life

File:Yanukovich-jr.jpg

Viktor Yanukovych at 3 years old

Viktor Yanukovych was born in the village of Zhukovka near Yenakiieve in Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. At the time of his birth, the village was part of the Soviet Union. He had a very hard childhood, on which he commented by saying: "My childhood was difficult and hungry. I grew up without my mother who died when I was two. I went around bare-footed on the streets. I had to fight for myself every day." Yanukovych is not ethnically Ukrainian, but rather of Russian, Polish, and Belarusian descent; a Crimean newspaper has claimed his surname to be a derivative of the Tatar name Yanhilde. His mother was a Russian nurse, who died when Yanukovych was two years old, and his father was a Polish-Belarusian locomotive driver, originally from Yanuki, Vitsebsk Voblast. By the time he was a teenager, Yanukovych had lost both his parents and was brought up by his Polish paternal grandmother, originally from Warsaw. His grandfather and great-grandparents were Lithuanian-Poles. Yanukovych has half-sisters from his father's remarriage, but he has no contact with them.

Criminal convictions

On December 15, 1967, at the age of 17, Yanukovych was sentenced to three years incarceration for participating in a robbery and moderate assault . The sentence was later reduced to 18 months as part of the amnesty announced in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. The court did not show Yanukovych clemency, a practice common for young, first-time offenders. At the court trial Yanukovych pleaded guilty and did not appeal his sentence even though he had the chance to do so at the expense of the state.

On June 8, 1970 he was convicted for a second time on charges of assault (Article 102 Criminal Code of Ukrainian SSR) and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. The verdict was not appealed. It is difficult to determine where Yanukovych served his second incarceration, but residents of Yenakieve claim that it was in the local correctional-labour institution ITL #52. On July 18, 1973, after serving a year of his sentence, the people's court of the city Yenakieve annulled both convictions.

File:Yanukovich-Beregovyj.jpg

Viktor Yanukovych with cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoy.

On October 14, 1978 the head of the Donetsk Oblast Court Vitaliy Boyko was approached by the Deputy of the Supreme Soviet from Yenakieve, pilot-cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoy to intervene in the rehabilitation of Yanukovych in both convictions in the Donetsk Regional Court. On December 27, 1978 the presidium of the Donetsk Regional Court reportedly quashed the recorded conviction according to the statue 6, part 2 of the Criminal Process Codex of Ukrainian SSR. Yanukovych was quoted as saying that the crimes for which he was tried were "errors of youth".

On July 11, 2005 the office of the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor filed charges of fraud regarding the quashed convictions. In 2006 the General Prosecutor of Ukraine closed the case due to lack of evidence. In 2006 a criminal charge was filed for the falsification of documents regarding the alleged quashing of Yanukovych's prior convictions after it was discovered that two documents had been forged. The signature of the judge in Yanukovych's case had also been forged a charge of battery. The charge failed, because all documentation regarding conviction had been destroyed, because it had expired. However, there were no official records regarding the destruction of these documents.

Career

File:Yanukovich-1985.jpg

Viktor Yanukovych with his wife, father and son Oleksandr in 1985.

In 1972, Yanukovych took a job as an electrician in a local bus company and later enrolled and completed a technicum course. In July 1974, he succeeded in enrolling into the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute with his first application. In 1974 under strange circumstances he participated in an auto race in Monaco. In 1976, as a second year student, he was promoted to director of a small trucking division within the Ordzhonikidzeugol coal mining company. In 1980, he graduated (by correspondence) from the institute, with a major in mechanical engineering. Immediately upon graduation, Yanukovych was appointed chief manager of a transportation company in Yenakiieve and admitted to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Committee of the Party Control did not review the criminal past of Yanukovych and was completely satisfied with the declaration of the Donetsk Oblast Court. His appointment as the chief manager marked the start of his managerial career as a regional transport executive, a position at which he has been serving for two decades. Amongst the companies he has worked for have been: Donbasstransremont, Ukrugolpromtrans, and the complex Donetskavtotrans.

Political career: 1996–2010

Yanukovych's political career began when he was appointed as a Vice-Head of Donetsk Oblast Administration in August 1996. On May 14, 1997 he was appointed as the Head of the Administration (i.e. Governor). Between May 1999 and May 2001 he was also the Head of Donetsk Oblast Council.

Academic career

In 1980, at the age of 30, Yanukovych completed tertiary studies in mechanical engineering as a correspondence student at the Donetsk Politechnical Institute. In 2001, at the age of 51, he received his Masters in International Law from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade. The President's site also states that he is an Academic of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Economic Sciences, and a Professor. In 1999, while in the position of vice head of the Donetsk Oblast Administration Yanukovych, and not having completed his masters degree, he received the title of docent (lecturer) of the (nonexistent) Faculty of Automobile Transport at the Donetsk State Academy of Administration, a tertiary education establishment that specialised in Economics and Management. Students of the academy testify that such a faculty did not exist nor do they remember Yanukovych reading any lectures.

In 2000, it is reported that Yanukovych received the academic credential of Doctor Habilitatus of Science. In order to receive this academic credential, apart from his dissertation, Yanukovych needed to publish at least ten papers, to prepare five students for their doctoral defense and to be actively involved in academic work. No evidence that he fulfilled these requirements can be found. In 2001, while in the position of Governor General of the Donetsk Oblast it is reported that Yanukovych graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade as a Master of International Law. However, very few of the then-enrolled students remember him in classes, taking exams, or attending graudation. Yanukovych was further granted the titles of Professor in Economics.

From December 2000 to February 2004, while in the position of Ukrainian Premier it is stated that Yanukovych headed the faculty of Innovative management at the Donbas State University.

The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine's electronic catalog has a list of 23 publications, text books, monographs with Yanukovych listed as author, however, on further investigation the library does not have any copies of the above-mentioned works. The Academy where they were prepared and apparently printed also has no record of the said publications. In order to receive the academic title of professor, one needs to lecture for at least 10 years and to publish a number scientific articles in internationally accredited peer publications. It remains unknown how he could have allegedly fulfilled these duties in addition to serving as governor.

Yanukovych is also an "academic" of the commercial entity called California International Academy of Sciences registered to a P.O. Box in Mountain View, CA. Apart from his academic credentials, Yanukovych has the military rank of major, although there is no record of him serving in the military.

Prime Minister (2002-2004)

President Leonid Kuchma appointed Yanukovych to the post of Prime Minister following Anatoliy Kinakh's resignation. Yanukovych began his term as Prime Minister on November 21, 2002 following a 234-vote confirmation in the Verkhovna Rada, only 8 more than needed. Under Yanukovych, the government began to pay more attention to reforming the coal industry.

In foreign affairs, Yanukovych's cabinet was considered to be politically close to Russia, although declaring support for Ukrainian membership in the European Union. Although Yanukovych's parliamentary coalition was not supporting Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), his cabinet agreed the commission of Ukrainian troops to the Iraq War in support of the United States' War on Terrorism.

2004 presidential campaign

Viktor Yanukovych (First round) - percentage of total national vote

Viktor Yanukovych (Second round) - percentage of total national vote

Viktor Yanukovych (Final round) - percentage of total national vote

Further information: [[:Ukrainian presidential election, 2004, Orange Revolution]]

In 2004, as the Prime Minister, Yanukovych participated in the controversial Ukrainian presidential election as the Party of Regions candidate. Yanukovych's main base of support emerged from the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, which favor close ties with neighbouring Russia. In the first round of voting held on October 31, 2004, Yanukovych took second place with 39.3 percent of the votes to opposition leader Viktor Yuschenko with 39.8 percent. Because no candidate passed the 50 percent threshold, a second round of voting was scheduled.

The third place candidate, with 5.82% of the vote, was the Socialist Party's Oleksandr Moroz, a leader of the anti-Kuchma movement and opponent of the Ukraine's NATO-membership attempts. In fourth place was the Communist Party's Petro Simonenko, with 4.97%. In fifth place was the Progressive Socialists' Natalia Vitrenko with 1.53%. Vitrenko endorsed Yanukovych and Moroz endorsed Yushchenko for the second round of elections; Simonenko did not endorse any of the candidates, however, and so Yushchenko became the favourite to win. In the second round of the election, Yanukovych was initially declared the winner. However, the legitimacy of the election was questioned by many Ukrainians, international organizations, and foreign governments following allegations of electoral fraud. The second round of the election was subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and in the repeated run-off, Yanukovych lost to Yushchenko with 44.2 percent to Yushchenko's 51.9 percent.

After the election, the Ukrainian parliament passed a non-binding motion of no confidence to his government, urging outgoing President Leonid Kuchma to dismiss Yanukovych and appoint a caretaker government. Five days after his electoral defeat, Yanukovych declared his resignation from the post of Prime Minister. In November 2009 Yanukovych stated that he conceded defeat only to avoid violence. "I didn't want mothers to lose their children and wives their husbands. I didn't want dead bodies from Kiev to flow down the Dnipro. I didn't want to assume power through bloodshed."

After the Orange Revolution

Following his electoral defeat in 2004, Yanukovych led the main opposition party against the Tymoshenko government made up of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and Oleksandr Moroz's Socialist Party. This government was marred by growing conflict between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko. Yanukovych's Party of Regions support allowed for the establishment of Yuriy Yekhanurov's government in late 2005.

In October 2004, Ukrainian deputy Hryhory Omelchenko accused Yanukovych of having been a member of "a group of individuals who brutally beat and raped a woman, but bought off the victim and the criminal case was closed". The press-service of the Ukrainian Cabinet asserted that Yanukovych suffered for the attempt to defend a girl from hooligans.

2006 and 2007 parliamentary elections (second turn as Prime Minister)

Former Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Prime Minister Yanukovych during a visit to Kiev (December 22, 2006).

In January 2006, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine started an official investigation of the allegedly false acquittal of the criminal convictions which Yanukovych received in his youth. Yuriy Lutsenko, the head of the ministry, announced that forensic tests proved the forgery of the respective documents (issued in instead of 1978) and initially claimed that lack of the formal acquittal precluded Yanukovych from running for the seat in the 2006 parliamentary election. However, the latter statement was corrected within days by Lutsenko himself who conceded that the outcome of the investigation into the legality of the Yanukovych's acquittal could not affect his eligibility to run for the parliament seat since the deprivation of his civil rights due to the past convictions would have expired anyway due to the statute of limitations. Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions won the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election. These elections determined the next government's makeup as, due to constitutional changes that came into force on January 1, 2006, the Prime Minister and his cabinet were now appointed by the parliament. Having ruled out any post-election deals with the parties headed by either Yushchenko or former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych was given an opportunity as squabbling between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko failed to produce a government for weeks, though deals restoring Tymoshenko to the premiership appeared at times to be completed. Yushchenko insisted that one of his allies become speaker of the Rada, even though Oleksandr Moroz coveted the post. Yanukovych offered Moroz the post of speaker, permitting Yanukovych to establish a new government with the Socialist Party and Petro Simonenko's Communist Party. As the presidency maintained control of foreign affairs and defence despite the weakening of its powers under the amended constitution, Yanukovych had to assure that he would not interfere with the president's pro-Western international ambitions. Yushchenko commissioned Yanukovych to form a government in cooperation with his own Our Ukraine party on August 3, 2006 (several hours after the deadline for doing so expired).

In 2006 a criminal charge was made for the falsification of documents regarding the retraction of Yanukovych's prior conviction. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta two documents had been forged regarding Yanukovych's robbery in association with rape and assault and battery. The signature of the judge for these documents in Yanukovych's retraction was also forged. .

On May 25, 2007, Viktor Yanukovych was assigned the post of appointed chairman of the Government Chiefs Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In the parliamentary elections on September 30, 2007, the Party of Regions won 175 out of 450 seats (34.37 percent of the votes) in the Verkhovna Rada. Despite increasing its overall percentage of support compared to the 2006 election (when it was 32.14 percent), the party lost 130,000 votes and 11 parliamentary seats. This was due in part to the Socialist Party, a coalition ally, just missing the threshold of votes required to enter parliament. After the Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc formed a coalition government on December 18, 2007, the Party of Regions went into the opposition.

Ukrainian presidential election, 2010

Main article: Ukrainian presidential election, 2010

Viktor Yanukovych (First round) - percentage of total national vote (35.33%)

Viktor Yanukovych (Second round) - percentage of total national vote (48.95%)

In 2009, Yanukovych announced his intent to run for President in the upcoming presidential election. He was endorsed by the Party of Regions. In December 2009 Yanukovych's candidacy was also endorsed by the Youth Party of Ukraine.

During the campaign Yanukovych declared he didn't see any opportunity for Yulia Tymoshenko to be Prime Minister if he is elected the president. On December 9, 2009 opposition leader Yanukovych stated that he would consider holding new parliamentary elections in March if a majority coalition cannot be quickly formed after his election as president because incumbent Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko "has her own program, and I do not think that she would agree to implement somebody else's. And what is even more important, even if she agrees, I won't believe her; President [Viktor] Yuschenko believed her twice, and she deceived him, I don't and can't have any confidence in Tymoshenko".

Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko accused him of financial fraud during the campaign. Yanukovych's campaign was expected to have cost $100 to $150 million.

In November 2009, Italian singer and composer Toto Cutugno accused the writers of the pro-Yanukovych song "Leader" written for the 2010 campaign of plagiarism of his song "Ti amo". Yanukovych distanced himself from the song, saying "I have heard nothing and I have ordered nothing".

On December 11, 2009 Yanukovych stated that his Party of Regions possesses information that "government representatives are currently "motivating" the chairmen of election commissions and seeking options for victory in every possible way" and called for his supporters go to the Maidan Nezalezhnosti in case of election fraud.

Early vote returns from the first round of the election held on January 17 showed Yanukovych in first place with 35.8% of the vote. He faced a February 7, 2010 runoff against Tymoshenko, who finished second (with 24.7% of the vote). Analysts predicted a slight advantage for Tymoshenko in the second (and final) round as she was more likely to attract voters from the other 16 candidates who did not proceed to the second round. Viktor Yanukovych refused before the second round of voting to hold debates with his opponent, saying Yulia Tymoshenko should either take responsibility for every word as prime minister, or go to the kitchen. After all ballots were counted the Ukrainian Central Election Commission declared that Yanukovych won the election with 48.95% of the vote compared with 45.47% for Tymoshenko. Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc members immediately claimed that there was systematic and large-scale vote rigging in this run-off. On February 10, 2009 Yanukovych called on Tymoshenko to abandon her protests and resign as Prime Minister. On February 9, 2010 Yanukovych had stated that Borys Kolesnykov was his preferred next Prime Minister of Ukraine. According to him pre-term parliamentary elections will be imminent if the Ukrainian parliament would not work effectively. Yanukovych also stated that, as the largest faction in the parliament at the time, his party was entitled to nominate the premier. On February 15 Yanukovych stated "I do not rule out the candidature of Tigipko (as next Prime Minister). Tigipko is on the list which, in my opinion, will be discussed next week in parliament".

On February 16, 2010 Ukraine's parliament had fixed February 25, 2010 for the inauguration of Yanukovych as president. On February 17, 2010 "the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine", suspended the results of the election on Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal. On February 20, 2010 Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal after "the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine" rejected her petition to scrutinize documents:
— about 300,000 voters who voted but were not in the "Register of Voters of Ukraine";
— about 1.3 million voters who "without right" voted in their homes;
— about falsification in the election in the eastern regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv region, Crimea, etc.) — fixed by law-enforcement officials.
Tymoshenko stated : "I and my political party will never recognize Yanukovych as the legitimately elected president of Ukraine"; "an honest court will assess that Yanukovych was not elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged".

Public opinion

Public Opinion Polls predicted the Party of Regions and Viktor Yanukovych's win in the 2010 Presidential election, which he won in the second round ballot against Yulia Tymoshenko in February 2010. According to an article in Kyiv Post in November 2009, Yanukovych's popularity in the Donbass was fading and Donbass voters voted mainly for Yanukovych to keep Tymoshenko from power.

Presidency

Inauguration

Ukraine's parliament had (on February 16) fixed February 25, 2010 for the inauguration of Yanukovych as president. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree endorsing a plan of events related to Yanukovych's inauguration on February 20, 2010. Yushchenko also congratulated and wished Yanukovych "to defend Ukrainian interests and democratic traditions" at the presidential post.

On February 20, 2010 Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) announced that they would not attend the inauguration

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus at Yanukovych's invitation conducted a public prayer service at Kiev Pechersk Lavra before Yanukovych's presidential inauguration. Patriarch Kirill also attended the inauguration along with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, United States National Security Advisor James Jones and speaker of the Russian parliament Boris Gryzlov.

Yanukovych immediate predecessor Yushchenko did not attend the ceremony, nor did Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her party, Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko.

The event was attended by various foreign dignitaries, including:

• Serzh Sargsyan, President of Armenia
• Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus
• Valdis Zatlers, President of Latvia
• Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
• Gjorge Ivanov, President of Macedonia
• Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland
• László Sólyom, President of Hungary
• Mihai Ghimpu, Acting President of Moldova
• Roberta Anastase, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament
• Boris Gryzlov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma
• General James L. Jones, United States National Security Advisor
• Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy & First Vice President of the European Commission
• Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament
• Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Artur Rasizade, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan
• Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
• Oqil Oqilov, Prime Minister of Tajikistan
• Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
• Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Secretary to Pope Benedict XVI

First days

Yanukovych wanted to oust the second Tymoshenko Government. On February 21, 2010 Yanukovych did offer three candidates for Prime Minister: Sergiy Tigipko, Our Ukraine faction member Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Party of Regions lawmaker Mykola Azarov. The second Tymoshenko Government fell on March 3, 2010 after the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) had passed a motion of no confidence in the Government.

On March 3, 2010 Yanukovych suspended his membership in the Party of Regions. Yanukovych was barred by the Constitution from heading a political party, and handed over leadership in the party and its parliamentary faction to Mykola Azarov.

Domestic policy

"Bureaucracy and corruption are today hiding behind democratic slogans in Ukraine. The Ukrainian nation is wise and it will understand. Because a small handful of people, who have been plundering the country for 20 years is only a handful, from which the whole society, the whole state and our image in the world have been suffering. The interest of the Ukrainian nation is that the practice was put an end to... The country has to change. We need to reverse our approaches 180 degrees, and we will do it. The Ukrainian nation stimulates us to.

Yanukovych in Warsaw on 4 February 2011

Amid controversy Ukrainian lawmakers formed a new coalition on March 11, 2010 which included Bloc Lytvyn, Communist Party of Ukraine and Party of regions that led to the Azarov Government. 235 deputies from the 450-member parliament signed the coalition agreement.

During the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit Yanukovych announced that Ukraine would give up its 90-kilogram stock of highly enriched uranium and convert its research reactors from highly enriched to low-enriched uranium. It intends to accomplish these goals by 2012.

On April 21, 2010 in Kharkiv Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty whereby the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea would be extended beyond 2017 by 25 years with an additional 5 year renewal option (to 2042-47) in exchange for a multi-year discounted contract to provide Ukraine with Russian natural gas. This treaty was approved by both the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments (Verkhovna Rada) on April 27, 2010. On April 22 Yanukovych stated he does not rule out the possibility of holding a referendum on the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine after the necessary legislative framework is adopted for this in future. Yanukovych did plan to hold plebiscites also on other subjects. Opposition members have accused Yanukovych of "selling out national interests". According to Yanukovych the main priority of his foreign policy is to integrate Ukraine "into the European mainstream", while improving relations with Russia. According to Yanukovych the only way out of holding the state budget deficit down, as requested by the International Monetary Fund, while protecting pensioners and minimal wages was to extend the Russian Navy lease in Crimea in exchange for cheaper natural gas.

During Spring 2010 Ukrainian journalists and Reporters Without Borders complained of censorship by Yanukovych's Presidential Administration; despite statements by Yanukovych how deeply he values press freedom and that ‘free, independent media that must ensure society’s unimpeded access to information.’ Anonymous journalists stated early May 2010 that they were voluntarily tailoring their coverage so as not to offend the Yanukovych administration and the Azarov Government. The Azarov Government, the Presidential Administration and Yanukovych himself denied being involved with censorship. In a press conference May 12, 2010 President Yanukovych’s representative in the Verkhovna Rada Yury Miroshnychenko stated that Yanukovych is against political repression for criticism of the regime.

On May 27, 2010 Yanukovych announced during a visit to Lviv that Ukraine "will start working on the official nomination of our country as the holder of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Carpathians".

On November 30, 2010 Yanukovych vetoed a new tax code made by the Azarov Government and earlier approved by the Verkhovna Rada but protested against in rallies across Ukraine (one of the largest protests since the 2004 Orange Revolution). Yanukovych signed an new Tax Code on December 3, 2010.

Yanukovych set in motion a set of administrative reform with the aim to reduce the number of civil servants in Ukraine early December 2010. According to Yanukovych this is part of a "course of reforms aimed at deep and comprehensive modernization of Ukraine". One of the planned reforms is decentralization. The fight against corruption is also a spearhead in his domestic policies. He also promised reforms on 21 directions in 2011.

President Yanukovych and the Party of Regions have been accused of trying to create a "controlled democracy" in Ukraine and as a means to this are trying to "destroy" main opposition party BYuT, but both have denied these charges. One frequently-cited example of Yankukovych's attempts to centralize power is the 2011 sentencing of Yulia Tymoshenko, which has been condemned by Western governments as potentially being politically motivated. Other high-profile political opponents currently under criminal investigation include Leonid Kuchma, Bogdan Danilishin, Igor Didenko, Anatoliy Makarenko, and Valeriy Ivaschenko. According to Yanukovych (on February 4, 2011) "many lies told and attempts made to misinform the international community and ordinary people in Ukraine about the true state of affairs in the country"; he also stated "a crushing blow delivered under his rule to corruption and bureaucracy has been met with resistance". He did state in February 2012 the trial of Tymoshenko and other former officials "didn't meet European standards and principles".

Social benefit cuts for Chernobyl rescue workers, small business owners and veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan caused fierce protests in Kiev in October/November 2011 by several thousand protesters.

Early November 2011 Yankukovych claimed "arms are being bought in the country and armed attacks on government agencies are being prepared". This claims where met with disbelief.

For 2012 he predicted "social standards will continue to grow" and "improvement of administrative services system will continue".

Foreign policy

Yanukovych's first foreign visit was to Brussels to visit European Union (EU) officials President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and Ashton. During the visit Yanukovych stated that there would be no change to Ukraine's status as a member of the NATO outreach program.

During his second foreign visit to Moscow in March, Yanukovych vowed to end years of acrimony with Russia, saying that ties between Russia and Ukraine "should never be the way they were for the past five years". He indicated that he was open to compromise with Russia on the Black Sea Fleet's future (this led to the April 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty), and reiterated that Ukraine would remain a "European, non-aligned state", referring to NATO membership. Both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (April 2010) and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (June 2010) soon stated they noticed a big improvement in relations with Ukraine since Yanukovych's presidency.

On June 3, 2010, the Ukrainian parliament excluded, in a bill written by Yanukovych, with 226 votes, Ukrainian membership of any military bloc, but allowed for co-operation with military alliances such as NATO. A day later Yanukovych stated that the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo violates international law, "I have never recognized Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Kosovo's independence. This is a violation of international law".

On November 22, 2010 the European Council and Ukraine announced "an action plan for Ukraine toward the establishment of a visa-free regime for short-stay travel". In May 2011 Yanukovych stated that he will strive for Ukraine to join the EU.

The sentencing of Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison on October 11, 2011 (an appeal is currently pending) was met with national and international protest and threatens Ukraine–European Union relations.

• 
  Yanukovych with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (Kharkiv, April 21, 2010)
• Yanukovych with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (Kiev, July 2, 2010)
  Yanukovych with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (Kiev, July 2, 2010)
• Yanukovych with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Berlin, August 30, 2010)
  Yanukovych with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Berlin, August 30, 2010)

Political positions

"The new modernization strategy sets a number of basic priorities, first of all, the creation of a modern competitive state, the substantial characteristics of which are the supremacy of law and a developed legal culture, a balanced representative democracy, strong self-government, and disciplined and mobile state management.

The second priority is the humanization of development, which means increasing social investments in human capital and the formation of a modern life sustenance infrastructure.

The organization of the modernization of the education and healthcare systems, an increase of social standards, the creation of a culture of the creative use of spare time and the development of national cultural industries are defined as the top priorities of the reforms."

Yanukovych annual address to parliament (April 2011)

Yanukovych has said, "Ukraine's integration with the EU remains our strategic aim", with a "balanced policy, which will protect our national interests both on our eastern border - I mean with Russia - and of course with the European Union". According to Yanukovych, Ukraine must be a "Neutral state" which should be part of a "collective defence system which the European Union, NATO and Russia will take part in." Yanukovych wants Ukraine to "neither join NATO nor the CSTO". He stated on January 7, 2010 that Ukraine is ready to consider an initiative by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the creation of a new Europe collective security system stating "And we're ready to back Russia's and France's initiatives". Yanukovych stated during the 2010 presidential election-campaign that the current level of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO is sufficient and that the question of the country's accession to the alliance is therefore not urgent. "The Ukrainian people don't currently support Ukraine's entry to NATO and this corresponds to the status that we currently have. We don't want to join any military bloc". On May 27, 2010 President Yanukovych stated he considered Ukraine's relations with NATO as a partnership, "And Ukraine can't live without this [partnership], because Ukraine is a large country".

Regarding the European Union (EU) Yanukovych wants to create a free trade zone and visa-free travel between Ukraine and the EU countries. Once "Ukraine achieves those standards that currently exist in Europe", then the country should consider joining the EU. "But today this is an absolutely motivating, stimulating process we must aspire to", he stated in January 2010. In May 2011 Yanukovych stated that he will strive for Ukraine to join the EU. According to Yanukovych Ukrainian relations with "the West" are "a guide in both social and technical standards that we should strive for in creating a European life level in Ukraine". Yanukovych believes that the European integration of Ukraine is not an end in itself, but a way of implementation of the European standards in the state.

According to Yanukovych, relations between Ukraine and Russia in the gas sector must be built “according to the rules of the market”. He sees the gas agreement signed in 2009 after the 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas dispute as very unprofitable for Ukraine he and wants to "initiate the discussion of the most urgent gas issues" after the 2010 presidential election. Yanukovych has promised before his election as Ukrainian President to "solve the issue" concerning the Russian Black Sea Fleet, currently stationed in the Ukrainian port Sevastopol, "in a way so that the interests of Russia or Ukraine would not be harmed". This led to the April 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty. Yanukovych had also promised to create a consortium that would allow Russia to jointly operate Ukraine's gas transportation network and he has pledged to help Russia build the South Stream natural gas pipeline. As of June 2010 both did not happen. Yanukovych rejected accusations that improvement of Ukrainian-Russian relations harms relations with the European Union. “Our policy is directed to protection of our national interests. We do not live in a fairy tale and understand that our partners also defend their interests”. In February 2012 Yanukovych stated, referring to relations with Russia, "It is not wise to fall asleep next to a big bear".

Yanukovych has stated that his "aim and dream" is a unification of Ukraine, although in his opinion "there are already no borders between the East and West of the country today". Yanukovych wants to create a free trade zone and visa regime with the EU as soon as possible. Prospects for Ukraine's joining the European Union first depend on a political decision of the European Union, according to Yanukovych.

Yanukovych's stance on the Holodomor is: "Holodomor took place, was denounced and the international society gave an evaluation of the famine, but it was never labeled as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Ukraine's attempts to do so by blaming one of our neighbors are unjust." "The Holodomor was in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It was the result of the policies of Stalin's totalitarian regime." In 2003 he supported then President Leonid Kuchma’s position that the Holodomor famine was genocide against Ukrainians. Yanukovych's press service claims that he does not approve of crimes of the KGB and their predecessors in Soviet times, however, in 2002 he wrote in a book endorsing the KGB and its predecessors, stating that the NKVD and Cheka "firmly stood on guard over the interests of our people and the state” and praised them for launching “a struggle against political extremism, sabotage and criminal activities.”).

Yanukovych has stated in the past that he wants Russian to become the second state language in Ukraine (currently Ukrainian is the only official language of Ukraine; Russian is more spoken in daily communications in Ukraine than Ukrainian). On the other hand, he stated at a meeting with Taras Shevchenko National Prize winners in Kiev on March 9, 2010 that "Ukraine will continue to promote the Ukrainian language as its only state language". In a newspaper interview during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election-campaign he stated that the status of Russian in Ukraine "is too politicized" and said that if elected President in 2010 he would "have a real opportunity to adopt a law on languages, which implements the requirements of the European Charter of regional languages". He said that this law would need 226 votes in the Ukrainian parliament (50% of the votes instead of the 75% of the votes needed to change the constitution of Ukraine) and that voters told him that the current status of Russian in Ukraine created "problems in the hospital, school, university, in the courts, in the office".

Yanukovych Party of Regions wants to increase social benefits, and raise salaries and pensions. In late 2009, a law that raised the minimum wage and pensions was passed in the Ukrainian Parliament. As a result of this, the International Monetary Fund suspended its 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis emergency lending programme: according to the IMF, the law breached promises to control spending. During the 2010 presidential campaign Yanukovych had stated he would stand by this particular law. According to Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc member of parliament Oleh Shevchuk, Yanukovych broke this election promise just three days after the 2010 presidential election when only two lawmakers of Yanukovych's Party of Regions supported a bill to raise pensions for low-incomes.

Yanukovych thinks that the demographic situation in Ukraine "is unacceptable" and hopes to increase the birth rate in Ukraine by improving the economic situation. He also stated that the Party of Regions is planning to create conditions for the return of Ukrainian migrant workers to Ukraine.

During the 2010 presidential campaign Yanukovych called for the modernization of Ukraine's energy sector (including technologies to save energy) increase of Ukraine's domestic natural gas production, tax reforms (cut the Value Added Tax (VAT) to 17 percent by 2011 from 20 percent and corporate tax to 19 percent from 25 percent, banks should not offer mortgages with more than 7 percent interest rates), and reforming the legal system in order to fight against corruption. He also believed that by 2019 Ukraine should be one of the G-20 major economies. Yanukovych believes Ukraine could gain energy security through the development and construction of more nuclear power stations and he wants to modernise the Ukrainian coal industry. Immediately after his election as President of Ukraine in February 2010 Yanukovych announced that "The new Cabinet of Ministers should start a war against corrupt practices". During the festivities dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the State Tax Service of Ukraine on July 1, 2010 President Yanukovych announced a step up of efforts towards the eradication of corruption.

As president Yanukovych has stated (early February 2010) he will support the freedom of speech of journalists and protect their interests. In general he wants the civil society to be involved in government policy making.

Yanukovych has been a speaker at congresses of the Russian political party United Russia. Party of Regions signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 with United Russia.

During the campaign Yanukovych stated that if elected president in 2010 he would not oblige government representatives to hang his portraits or other symbols portraying him.

On June 25, 2010 President Yanukovych criticised 2004 amendments in the Ukrainian Constitution which weakened presidential powers such as control over naming government ministers, passing those functions to parliament.

During the 2011 World Economic Forum Yanukovych called Ukraine "one of the leaders on democratic development in Eastern Europe".

Family and personal life

Yanukovych is married to Lyudmyla Oleksandrivna they have two sons, Oleksandr and Viktor. Yanukovych is a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Viktor is a member of the Parliament of Ukraine.

Until 2004, Yanukovych was known as batia ("Dad") among his family members, but since that time he became leader. As Yanukovych himself stated, his wife does not wish for her grandson to pick up the bad habits of his grandfather, albeit Yanukovych did not specify what kind of habits those were.

Yanukovych acquired a sizable estate in a former forest preserve near Kiev in 2007, according to critics through a murky series of companies and transactions. Yanukovych did not reveal the price he paid, although he called it a "very serious price".

Yanukovych has multiple talents one of which is singing. Yanukovych was accusations of plagiarism in a book by him published in August 2011.

Cultural and political image

Yanukovych is seen by opponents as representing the interests of Ukraine big business; they point out that his campaigns have benefited from backing by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov. Supporters of Yanukovych point out Donetsk Oblast (province) secured unprecedented levels of investment during his governorship. Thus,Yanukovich is said to be the most cultureless candidate for the elections in Ukraine.During his elective programms and speeches he had made a lot of mistakes including case in Odessa when he called a famous poetess Anna Ahmatova as Anna Achmetova.

Voters for Yanukovych in 2010 believed he would bring "stability and order". They blamed the Orange Revolution for creating broken promises, a dysfunctional economy and political chaos. During the 2010 presidential election campaign Yuriy Yakymenko, director of political research at the Razumkov Centre, stated "I think he has not just changed on the surface but also in his ideas."

In 2004 Yanukovych was seen as outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin's protégé. Although Kuchma in conversation with United States Ambassador to Ukraine John F. Tefft, in a document dated February 2, 2010 uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak, called the voters choice between Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko during the second round of the 2010 presidential election as a choice between “bad and very bad" and praised (the candidate eliminated in the first round of the election) Arseniy Yatsenyuk instead. In another January 2009 cable (then) Ambassador of Ukraine to Russia Kostyantyn Hryshchenko stated that Putin had a low personal regard for Yanukovych.

Yanukovych draws strong support from Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the east of the country. Yanukovych is disliked and distrusted in western Ukraine. The People's Movement of Ukraine labeled his election on February 10, 2010 as "an attack by anti-Ukrainian forces in our state" and stated that "all possible legal means should be used to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of anti-state politician Yanukovych and his pro-Moscow retinue". On February 16, 2010 Yanukovych issued a statement that read “I can say only one thing to those who anticipate that my presidency will weaken Ukraine – that will never happen. Yanukovych refers to himself as Ukrainian.

Opinion polls have shown Yanukovych's popularity has sunk since his election as President in 2010 with polls giving him a round 13% of the votes if Presidentail election would have been held in 2012.

Wikileaks

In a Wikileaks diplomatic cable, Volodymyr Horbulin, one of Ukraine's most respected policy strategists and former presidential advisor to then-President Viktor Yushchenko, told the United States Ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst in 2006 that Yanukovych’s Party of Regions was partly composed of “pure criminals" and "criminal and anti-democracy figures."

Yanukovych's famous public speaking errors (blunders)

Yanukovych is not known as a great speaker. His native language is Russian, similar to a majority of the population of his power-base and native Eastern Ukraine. He was however making efforts to speak better Ukrainian. For the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election Yanukovych wrote an autobiography for the Central Election Commission, in which he misspelled his academic degree. Thereafter, he came to be widely referred to under this nickname in oppositional media and opponents' speeches. His autobiographic resume of 90 words contains 12 major spelling and grammatical errors. Opponents of Yanukovych made fun of this misspelling and his past (criminal) convictions during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election campaign. In February 2010 he addressed the population of Lviv as “the genocide of the nation” (genotsyd natsyi) (he apparently wanted to say “the gene pool of the nation” (genofond natsyi)). Other public misstatements were claims that Anton Chekhov was "the Ukrainian poet", on the tele-radio company Krym on January 29, 2010. After the arrest of the anti-tax picket Yanukovych gave a speech where he forgot the Ukrainian word for a pine-tree and after a big pause finally used the similar Russian version of the word. In his other formal speech commemorated to the celebration of Christmas and often associated with Eastern Orthodox religion Yanukovych forgot on January 6, 2011 to congratulate the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian community that by following the Julian calendar also as the rest of Ukrainian people celebrates Christmas that day. During the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election campaign fellow candidate Yulia Tymoshenko accused Yanukovych of not being able to "understand and comprehend intellectually, what is being discussed". According to Tymoshenko, "[H]e confuses Austria with Australia. Maybe they have kangaroos there [in Austria], but they probably look funny." During an interview with Euronews on March 1, 2010 Yanukovych confused Kosovo with Serbia and Montenegro, and North Ossetia with South Ossetia.

An incident during the campaign (September 2004) in Ivano-Frankivsk when Yanukovych was rushed to hospital after he had been hit with an egg (while government officials claimed he was hit by a brick) was a source of ridicule.

Yanukovych stated in November 2009 that he respects all Ukrainian politicians. "I have never offended anyone. This is my rule of politics." Despite of his claim, on September 22, 2007, during 2007 Ukrainian Parliamentary Election campaign, while delivering a speech in Vinnytsia, he compared Yulia Tymoshenko's performance as Prime Minister to "a cow on the ice" (" Вона прем'єр-міністр, як корова на льду....", "She is as prime minister as a cow on the ice") most likely referring to her skills and professionalism as a prime minister. Other cases of strong colloquialisms used by Viktor Yanukovych include the incident when he called former president Viktor Yushchenko "a coward and a babbler" ("трус и трепач") as well as the speech in Donetsk during 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, when he referred to the electorate of his opponent Viktor Yushchenko as "goats that make our lives difficult" ("эти козлы, которые нам мешают жить"). Later, during the TV debates with Yushchenko he explained, "I called goats the traitors. According to the Bible, the goat is a traitor, and there are also rams, sheep."

On January 29, 2010 the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Oleksandr Medvedko claimed that Yanukovych was unlawfully jailed in his youth, which astonished the former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko, who was recently dismissed by the Verkhovna Rada, led by the Party of Regions initiative.

American consultant Paul J. Manafort has advised Yanukovych since 2005.

Awards

• Order of Merit 3rd class (1998), 2nd class (2000), 1 class (2002)
• Order "Miner's award" 3, 2, 1 class
• Order "Miner's glory" 3, 2, 1 class
• Certificate from the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (2000)
• Order of Saint Nestor (1998)
• Order of Saint Prince Volodmyr (1998)
• Order of Saint Daniyel of Moscow

See also

• 2006 Ukrainian political crisis
• 2007 Ukrainian political crisis
• Alliance of National Unity
• Ukrainian presidential election, 2010
• Party of Regions

External links

• President of Ukraine — Official website Template:Uk icon Template:Ru icon Template:En icon
• "All power to councils -- not to a President Czar"
• Yanukovych Personal Information Service
• Viktor Yanukovych on Twitter
• Party of Regions Official Information Server
• Yanukovych’s inner circle - Kyiv Post (January 21, 2010)