Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Leonid Kuchma Ukraine's second president, Leonid Kuchma (1994-2004), has said that Ukraine has found itself in a worse situation amid the financial and economic crises due to the negligence of the authorities.

"Over 100 economic crises of various natures have happened over the last 300 years. This means that it's necessary always to be prepared for a crisis, rather than tell the people and say that this [crisis] will not affect us… As a result [of this], Ukraine has found itself in a worse situation. We've won the race to the bottom in all aspects," he told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday.

He said government policies were evidence of the "negligent attitude of the Ukrainian authorities to forecasting and analyzing the consequences of the financial and economic crisis."

Kuchma also said that "new young scientists with non-standard ideas" could tackle the economic crisis and change the situation in the country.