The new government, most of which was appointed by constitutional majority, be an interesting one to watch, but can hardly be called
a technocratic one.
The newly approved Cabinet has 21 members, and is heavy on members of ex-Prime
Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna Party.
Vitali Klitschko’s Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for
Reform is not represented after turning down offers. Their exclusion highlights
the growing rift between UDAR and Batkivshchyna, whose leaders will most likely
compete in the early presidential election on May 25.
Svoboda, the ultra-nationalist party, received several
key positions in the government on top of the general prosecutor’s office,
which it already oversees.
Arseniy
Yatseniuk
The appointment of Arseniy Yatseniuk as prime minister was not a surprise.
He was offered the job by overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych last month,
but turned it down. The 39-year-old career politician and former businessman
has held a number of top posts before: head of the National Bank of Ukraine,
foreign minister and Verkhovna Rada speaker.
Yatseniuk is notoriously difficult to get along with.
His leadership of the Batkivshchyna Party in recent years, while Tymoshenko was
in prison, has earned him much criticism and has alienated many party members.
Vitaliy Yarema
Born in 1963, Vitaliy Yarema is a highly respected former general and Kyiv city police chief. A member of anti-corruption committee in parliament, he will be responsible for coordinating law enforcers and restoring peace in the nation, a task that Yatseniuk said was number one for the government.
Oleksandr
Sych
Oleksandr Sych, 49, was appointed deputy prime minister. This
Svoboda Party member from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast had a swift rise since his
party made it to parliament. He has made some highly controversial moves in
parliament since his election.
One of his legal initiatives was an attempt to ban all
abortions, even for pregnancies that occurred during rape, an idea that caused
a massive outcry among human rights groups. He also famously recommended women
to “lead the kind of lifestyle to avoid the risk of rape, including one from
drinking alcohol and being in controversial company.” It’s not clear what area
of the economy he will supervise as deputy prime minister.
Olha
Bohomolets refused to be in government
Olha Bohomolets, coordinator of the medical units on EuroMaidan, was
appointed deputy prime minister for humanitarian issues at EuroMaidan on Feb.
26. but then turned down the job hours later. She is highly praised for her volunteer
medical service during EuroMaidan protests.
Bohomolets comes from a dynasty of doctors and heads
Kyiv’s dermatology and cosmetology institute. She was President Viktor
Yushchenko’s personal doctor after his dioxin poisoning in 2004. A signer and
collector of antique icons, she has shown herself as a personality with varied
interests. She financed restoration of Radomysl, a small castle in Zhytomyr
Oblast, but had been accused of illegally taking over it.
Volodymyr
Groysman
Volodymyr Groysman, who became deputy prime minister for regional
policy, comes from the city of Vinnytsia where he has been mayor since 2006.
Elected at the age of 28, he is credited for transforming the city’s bureaucracy
into one of the nation’s friendliest – a deed that earned him a record-breaking
number of votes during re-election in 2010, when 77.8 percent of the city
residents supported him.
He was a member of Yushchenko’s party, and is now
believed to be close to millionaire businessman and member of parliament Petro
Poroshenko, also a Vinnytsia native. Before starting a political career, he was
involved in agrarian business and real estate.
Andriy
Deshchytsia
Andriy Deshchytsia is a 50-year-old
career diplomat, who most lately served as Ukraine’s representative to OSCE. He
was the author of the diplomats’ statement in support of EuroMaidan in early
February.
Pavlo
Petrenko
Pavlo Petrenko, the 34-year-old new justice minister, is a Yatseniuk
loyalist who used to head the legal department in his Front Zmin party, which
merged with Batkivshchyna in 2012. He has worked in the state Oschadbank, and
worked as deputy of Kyiv regional council and Verkhovna Rada.
One of the most controversial appointees took over the
energy ministry, which supervises the sector where multi-billion fortunes have
been made in Ukraine since independence, through highly corrupt schemes and at
the expense of the people.
Yuriy
Prodan
Russian-born Yuriy Prodan, 55, had already been in
this job under President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in
2007-2010. He had previously worked in Kyivenergo, the capital’s energy
monopoly supplier, and played a central role in creation of the National Energy
Market. Despite its name, it has become a poorly controlled state monopoly for
sale of electricity. Prodan has been described by the Ukrainian media as a
person close to Privat Group of controversial billionaire Igor Kolomoisky.
Oleksandr
Shlapak
The Finance Ministry was taken over by Russian-born,
Lviv-educated Oleksandr Shlapak. A former deputy head of PrivatBank, he
is also a representative of the Kolomoisky group in the new Cabinet. In his
previous government incarnations, he has served as President Leonid Kuchma’s
economy minister and deputy head of the President Yushchenko’s secretariat,
among other. Shlapak was one of the witnesses for prosecution during the
Tymoshenko trial, which sent her to jail for seven years.
Pavlo
Sheremeta
The new Economy Minister is 42-year-old Pavlo Sheremeta, the Lviv-born and western-educated founder of
Kyiv-Mohyla Business School who has recently headed the Kyiv School of
Economics. As a part of a Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, he advised the
government of Malaysia in 2008-2011 on economic development.
Serhiy
Kvit
New Education Minister Serhiy Kvit, 48, has
worked as President of Kyiv-Mohyla University since 2007. The school is
considered one of the best in Ukraine, but has not developed much in 2007. Kvit
has been a member of right-wing organizations in Ukraine, and an ardent enemy
of previous Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk.
He supported EuroMaidan from the early days and led
his schools’ students during the protests. Despite revolutionary zeal, he was
not known for leading any major changed in his school, and was not the student
community’s first choice for minister.
Maksym Burbak
At 38, new minister for infrastructure Maksym Burbak is almost the same age as as the prime minister, and both of them are natives of Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. He headed Yatseniuk’s Front of Change party in the region and had been his advisor in Crimea, when he was economy minister of the autonomy. Burbak has also run a number of businesses, most recently the company called Bukovyna Avto Aliance, a car trader.
Lyudmyla
Denysova
New Minister for Social Issues Lyudmyla Denysova has
been in governments before, and is no stranger to controversies. She served in
the same job under Prime Minister Tymoshenko in 2007-2010, and has been a
parliament deputy of three convocations. Chesno, a pro-transparency
non-government campaign, said in 2012 that there is a “high probability” that
Denysova was involved in nepotism and abused power. In particular, the State
Security Service discovered Hr 60 million worth of embezzlement in her
ministry, but no criminal case was ever started.
Andriy Mokhnyk
Two Svoboda party members took over the ecology
ministry and the agriculture ministry. Andriy Mokhnyk, 42-year-old deputy
head of Svoboda with three higher educations (none ecology-related), took over
the ecology ministry. This may be bad news for international companies that
have signed agreements with Ukraine to develop alternative energy sources
because the party had organized fierce resistance campaigns across the nation.
Ihor Shvaika
Svoboda’s Ihor Shvaika, 38, was appointed Agriculture Minister. Russian-born and Kharkiv-educated lawyer, he worked in Kharkiv law companies in leading roles, as well as local branches of law companies. A member of right-wing nationalist Svoboda since 2007, he thrived on publicity when he moved to Kyiv after the 2012 parliamentary election. He was very vocal in anti-shale gas campaigns led by Svoboda, and was in the middle of a child abduction scandal last year, when his former wife accused him of taking away their 5-year-old child. He returned the child to the mother, Ukrainian media reported.
Dr. Oleh Musiy
The new Health Minister is Dr. Oleh Musiy, the 48-year-old
coordinator of medical services on EuroMaidan, and a highly praised candidate.
Educated in Kyiv, he also received medical training in Poland, USA, Finland,
Austria and Germany, and has been a member of various civic activist groups,
including the public supervisory council of the Health Ministry.
When he was introduced by Yatseniuk to the Rada before the parliament vote, Dr. Musiy received a standing ovation.
Dmytro
Bulatov
Dmytro Bulatov, 35, is one of the leaders of AutoMaidan protest
groups, who was kidnapped and tortured in January. Educated in Kyiv Polytechnic
University, he has run a number of small businesses, including an car service,
a restaurant and a consulting company. His appointment is frowned upon as it’s
considered one of the “rewards” to Maidan activists.
Arsen
Avakov
Arsen Avakov, 50, was confirmed as Interior Minister. A former head
of the Kharkiv regional council and former head of Yushchenko’s presidential
campaign in Kharkiv, he was accused of illegal privatization of land and abuse
of power and was under criminal investigation by the previous government, which
forced him to flee to Italy. His fellow party members said the case was
politically motivated. Avakov has also founded and run a big business and a
bank. He is one of the most authoritative members of Batkivshchyna at the
moment, who emerged during the revolution.
Ihor Teniukh
Admiral Ihor Teniukh, 55, was appointed the new acting defense minister. He had previously led Ukraine’s fleet in 2006-2010, but quit the job in March 2010, soon after the election of Viktor Yanukovych as president, citing moral reasons. On Jan. 19, at the height of EuroMaidan protests, he called on the army to not take part in clashes.
“In case a force scenario develops and you receive criminal orders to use weapons against peaceful population, do not allow the government to use you to establish dictatorship like in Northern Korea,” he said from stage on Maidan.
Andriy
Parubiy
Andriy Parubiy, 43, was appointed head of the National Security Council. A
Lviv native, he has been an active member of various nationalist movements
since his teens, and formed and led Maidan’s Self-Defense during the EuroMaidan
protests. He has been a deputy of several convocations, but has shined at
revolution times.
Yevhen
Nishchuk
The Culture Ministry will now be headed by 41-year-old Yevhen Nishchuk, who has been dubbed as “the voice of Maidan” for
his heavy presence on stage during the three months of protests. A former
actor, he has no culture management experience and his candidacy was vehemently
opposed by the arts community, who released a statement against his
appointment, which looks like a reward for revolutionary activities.
In his inaugural speech on Maidan on Feb. 26, he said
his ministry will no longer service the president and the prime minister at
wreath-laying ceremonies, and that national artifacts stolen previously will be
returned to the state.
Ostap Semerak
The new Cabinet will have a minister without portfolio,
42-year-old Ostap Semerak, a native of Lviv and
graduate of Kyiv-Mohyla University. He was a parliament deputy until 2012, and investigator
of the corruption sandal around the purchase of a drilling rig by Yuriy Boyko,
the former Energy Minister. He has most recently been Yatseniuk’s advisor on
foreign policy.
Tetyana
Chornovol, Yegor Sobolev
The current government will have two entirely new
positions, whose role is yet to be clarified, the anti-corruption bureau and
the lustration commission. Both will be headed by young EuroMaidan activists
and former journalists, Tetyana Chornovol and Yegor Sobolev.
Despite being perceived as one of revolution’s heroes,
especially after her brutal beating on Christmas Day, Chornovol is a highly
controversial figure in Ukrainian politics. Formerly an investigative
journalist, she ran for parliament in 2012 and lost.
Because of her explosive personality, she is unlikely
to be able to form a strong team that would work systematically towards setting
up a strong anti-corruption bureau and push many investigations to the very
end.
In her blog on pravda.com.ua on Feb. 27, she boasts that she “could not refuse
herself the pleasure of being the first to enter” the president’s mansion in
Mezhyhirya after it was taken over by the protesters. What she forgets to
mention is that she actually broke entry to the house she had written so much
about as a journalist.
Sobolev, 37, is a former business reporter and then
investigative journalist, who became frustrated with lack of change from
journalistic reporting and moved to become an activist. He was one of the
leaders of civic groups on EuroMaidan. He will now head the lustration
commission, whose role is yet to be determined.
Kyiv
Post deputy chief editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at
[email protected]
