Nalyvaichenko joins Klitschko's UDAR Party

The former head of the political council of the Our Ukraine Party and former Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Valentyn Nalyvaichenko has joined Vitali Klitschko's UDAR Party, the party's press service has reported.

Klitschko said in an interview with the ICTV channel that Nalyvaichenko had expressed a desire to work in his team and had joined the party.

"He's a professional man, with an outlook and vision of Ukraine's future that coincides with ours," he said.

Klitschko also said the party was carefully studying public reaction to the disclosed lists of candidates for single-member districts.

"We are closely monitoring the reaction to the released list of candidates for single-member districts. I can say that at least 5-10% on the list - those who received the most criticism from the public - will not be candidates from UDAR," he said.

Klitschko said that the top five, ten and twenty candidates on the list would be determined at a party congress on August 1.

As reported, on May 24, 2012, Nalyvaichenko resigned as head of the political council of the Our Ukraine Party and terminated his membership of the party. At the same time, he said that he would continue to "actively work in the team of the united opposition."