This is a first in a periodic series of articles that will focus on how well President Viktor Yanukovych's words match his actions.
How big is the gap between what President Viktor Yanukovych promises and what he delivers, between what he thinks is true and what really is true?
“I don’t like talking too much, but every time I speak, I’m responsible for my words,” Yanukovych said in an interview with the Financial Times on Jan. 18, 2010, just weeks before he was elected as Ukraine’s fourth president.
The Kyiv Post decided to check Yanukovych’s promise. Here’s what we found:
1. Soon after becoming president, Yanukovych promised to ink a visa-free regime with the European Union.
“No later than in a year we will get a visa-free regime and free trade zone with European Union,” he told BBC Ukrainian service on March 2, 2010.
But one year later, Ukraine is still bogged down in negotiations with the EU over both; a final agreement that delivers on these promises seems unlikely to come this year.
2. Yanukovych assured the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine had no intention of banning grain exports.
“We have never had any export ban. We are not going to have one. We are not going to have quotas either,” he said on Sept. 23, 2010.
But days later, his government shook up the agriculture market, farmers and investors by restricting grain exports and introducing export quotas.
3. In dealing with Russia, Ukraine will protect its national interests, Yanukovych told France’s Le Figaro newspaper.
“I insist: We seek development of our economic relations with Russia that would not question the protection of national interest and independence of Ukraine,” he said on Oct. 7, 2010.
But months earlier, on April 2010, Yanukovych signed an agreement prolonging the stay of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet at Ukraine’s Sevastopol port by decades, until 2042.
He and his coalition in parliament approved the agreement even though it clearly violated Ukraine’s Constitution, which bans the presence of foreign military forces on Ukrainian territory.
Critics say the agreement will preserve Russian influence over Ukraine long-term, specifically on the Crimean peninsula, where pro-Russian separatist sentiment runs high.
4. Yanukovych told a group of German media that billionaire businessman Valeriy Khoroshkovsky is the right person to serve as head of Ukraine’s SBU security services.
“I would say the security chief performs his job in a quitenormal manner. This work has no connection at all with the activities of the mass media. Regarding his assets, he has handed over their administration to relatives,” Yanukovych said to Deutsche Welle and other German media ahead of his visit to Berlin.
But Khoroshkovsky has obvious and widely recognized conflicts of interest as head of the SBU, starting with his business relations with billionaire Dmytro Firtash.
Firtash played a big role in the region’s murky natural gas business. Both Firtash and Khoroshkovsky had interests in Ukraine’s leading Inter TV group. Moreover, Khoroshkovsky has headed investigations into gas dealings where Firtash’s interests are at stake.
5. Yanukovych downplayed probes centering on former Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn, a close ally of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, saying the investigation was not political because Danylyshyn himself was not involved in politics.
“Getting back to the former minister of the economy – Mr. Danylyshyn – he had never been involved in politics. He was a minister in the previous government,” he said in interview to Washington Post on Jan 28, 2011.
But the position of government minister is, by default, a political one, according to Ukraine’s Constitution. Moreover, Danylyshyn received political asylum in the Czech Republic, a development that clearly suggested the investigation into him was politically motivated.
6. In the same Washington Post interview, Yanukovych called on his main rival in the presidential election campaign, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, to prove that corruption charges against her were baseless.
“Of course, I very much want to see Ms. Tymoshenko prove that she is innocent if she is innocent,” he said.
In saying so, Yanukovych, as guarantor of Ukraine’s constitution, expressed disregard for the constitution, which envisions presumption of innocence for the accused.
7. In the same Washington Post interview, Yanukovych claimed that a major anti-corruption campaign was under way in Ukraine under his leadership.
“The country started a major campaign against corruption and violations of the law. It is not a selective approach based on political motivations. This campaign targets members of all political groups,” he said, pointing out a recent criminal case against the former chairman of Crimea’s parliament, Anatoly Hrytsenko.
But Mustafa Dzhemilev, a Crimean Tatar leader said in a Kyiv Post interview that Hrytsenko was arrested after he fell out of favor with the pro-presidential Regions Party.
Critics of Yanukovych in Ukraine and abroad say that country’s law enforcement authorities are politically persecuting the opposition, starting with the camp of Tymoshenko.
8. Yanukovych insists he fairly won the 2004 presidential election, where his allegedly fraud marred victory was overturned by the Orange Revolution.
“I won all the elections which took place in the last 5 – 6 years, including the elections of 2004. Commentary of lawyers confirm that the decision of the [Supreme] Court [in 2004 to hold a repeat vote] was in violation of Ukraine’s Constitution,” he said in a BBC interview published on Feb. 11, 2010.
But both Ukrainian courts, Western observers and the international community at large concluded that the presidential campaign in 2004 was rigged in Yanukovych’s favor.
9. Yanukovych says he doesn’t fear anything.
“I’m not scared of anything. I think I do not resemble a person who is frightened. Do you think I look like someone who is frightened?” he said.
But Yanukovych always appears in public encircled by an enormous number of bodyguards and he rarely appears as press conferences.
His former political ally, Taras Chornovil, said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda website that Yanukovych has serious fears.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
