By Vestnik Kavkaza
Last November the Ukrainian government headed by Nikolai Azarov postponed signing of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU; it led to wide-scale protests in Kiev and other cities of Ukraine and caused the toppling of the government and president.
The current prime minister is Arseny Yatsenyuk
First vice-premier for the Armed Block – Vitaly Yarema, Batkivshchina member
Vice-premier for Regional politics – Vladimir Groisman (Vinnitsa mayor)
Vice-premier – Alexander Sych (Svoboda)
The Minister of Ecology – Andrei Mokhnik (Svoboda)
The Minister of Agroindustrial Complex – Igor Shvaika (Svoboda)
The Minister of Justice – Pavel Petrenko
The Minister of Culture – Yevgeny Nishchuk, the Maidan’s anchor
The Minister of Youth and Sport – Dmitry Bulatov, the leader of Automaidan
The Minister of Science and Education – Sergey Kvit
The Minister of Finances – Alexander Shlapak
The Minister of Health – Oleg Musiy, Maidan activist
The Interior Minister – Arsen Avakov
The Minister of Social Politics – Lyudmila Denisova
The Minister of Economy – Pavel Sheremet, President of the Kiev Economics School
The Minister of Fuel and Energy – Yuri Prodan, the former Minister of Fuel and Energy in Timoshenko’s cabinet.
Sergey Slobodchuk, a Kiev political scientist, told Vestnik Kavkaza that there are “three factors which influence the current cabinet of ministers. First of all, it is the Maidan which is still present on the central square and central streets of Kiev, i.e. politicians have to consider its view, as due to thevprotests of the Maidan the current leaders came to power.
The second factor is the very difficult and dim economic situation, and there is stove-piping and disinformation about it today. The situation is rather unpredictable, stable and complicated, as nobody knows where the budget will get revenues. Today a dollar costs more than 11 hryvnias, while a week ago it cost a bit more than 8 hryvnias. We can see games on the monetary market; collusion is obvious.
And the third factor which influences the current cabinet is the presidential election of May 25th, which was announced by the parliament on February 21st.”
According to Slobadchuk, “first of all, the current government includes many persons who became well-known due to their participation in the Maidan protests. Thus, we can say that there are many decorative figures in the current government. For example, the Minister of Youth and Sport Bulator, the Minister of Ecology Mokhlik from Svoboda, the vice-premier Sych from Svoboda are decorative figures who have no experience in state governance at such a level. It means that the decorative figures will be faces of the ministries, while decisions will be made by deputy ministers who will define policy of certain ministries and departments.
We should look at deputy ministers to understand interests of what financial and industrial groups are presented. It will be found out during the month.”
At the same time, Slobadchuk says that “the government includes persons (for example, the Minister of Finances) who are closely connected with the oligarchic capital. It is a way to pay to oligarchs who support protests on the Maidan. At the same time, the Minister of Regional Development Groisman is thought to be a skilled successful manager. Launching of such a position as the vice-premier for the Armed Block means that the new authorities try to establish a stricter control over the General Prosecution and the Interior Ministry. The General Prosecution and the Interior Ministry are headed by people who have no experience in these spheres. Therefore, they need a supervisor who has the experience, and General Yarema used to be the head of Kiev Police Department.”
Slobadchuk is concerned by the fact that “MPs who approved the government had no time to learn a program of the future cabinet. The program of the government wasn’t discussed or presented publicly. The question is not about people, but in their functions. And we don’t know anything about it, as the program is not available. We simply don’t know what main directions of economic development and management are required by the government.”
The political scientist notes that “the government has no representatives of UDAR, Vitaly Klichko’s party. A factor of the presidential elections played its role, as supporters of the Maidan, Julia Timoshenko from Batkivshina and Vitaly Klichko from UDAR will compete. Representatives of UDAR didn’t want to take part in the government, realizing that risks are serious, as any mistakes will be ascribed to Vitaly Klichko and the party in general.”
Estimating the course which the new government will conduct, Slobadchuk says: “We cannot say whether it will be a democratic course, a liberal, a conservative, or something else, as the governmental program is unavailable. We can guess only. However, considering the fact that liberal figures aimed at cooperation with the West came in power, we can say that the course will be neoliberal, i.e. in general it is continuation of the course by Nikolai Azarov’s government, but under a new cover.”
The new government of Ukraine has already renewed its work on preparation for the association agreement with the EU.
