Evraz Group financial director Pavel Tatyanin (right) and Evraz Group president Valery Khoroshkovky
Photo: Dmitry Lekay
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Yushchenko Appoints Businessman to Security Council
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced the appointment of businessman Valery Khoroshkovsky first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council yesterday. Khoroshkovsky is a co-owner of the Ukrainian television channel Inter and president of Russia's largest steel company Evraz Group. His appointment is part of the continuing reorganization of the security council, which Yushchenko hopes to use as a counterweight against the government of Viktor Yanukovich. Khoroshkovsky had previous stayed out of politics. He is the member of no party and expressed no sympathy for either side during the Orange Revolution.
Khoroshkovsky was, however, minister of economics and European integration from November 2002 to January 2004, while Yanukovich was prime minister. Observers note that Khoroshkovsky was the only member of the cabinet to oppose Ukraine's membership in a a common economic space with Russia and other CIS countries. This lead to an aggravated conflict with then-first deputy prime minister Nikolay Azarov. Yushchenko several times mentioned Khoroshkovsky as “a principled minister” willing to stand on his own convictions. While observers say that Khoroshkovsky cannot be considered a devotee of the president, it is clear that he will oppose the economic policies of Yanukovich's Party of the Regions, which is largely set by Yanukovich and Azarov. As the resident of a large Russian company, Khoroshkovsky also cannot be considered anti-Russian.
Khoroshkovsky's appointment is another link between Yushchenko and big business. The head of the National Security and Defense Council is Vitaly Gaiduk, one of the founders of the Donbass Industrial Union corporation. Gaiduk's appointment was seen as a countermeasure to oligarch Renat Akhmetov's close ties to Yanukovich. At the end of last month, Yushchenko appointed his long-time associate Igor Drizhchany deputy secretary of the security council. Drizhchany had previously been head of Ukrainian national security.
The Party of the Regions reacted nervously to Khoroshkovsky's appointment, warning against the formation of a “shadow cabinet of ministers.” Decisions of the National Security and Defense Council are enacted by presidential order and cannot be annulled by other bodies. Unlike the parliament and cabinet of ministers, the majority of members of the security council are supporters of the president.
www.commersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 12, 2006
|
|
|
