The Plot Thickens. . .More on Tymo- v. Poro- shenko

The plot thickens in Ukraine, for me at least. This is a VERY interesting and important article from RFE, a MUST read; again it's here.

It makes me even more suspicious about Poroshenko. I am really grateful that someone has been looking into this matter with this much detail (the article's author, Roman Kupchinsky also writes for RFE's crime and corruption watch). I am eager to learn more, and hope that more such detailed articles will be appearing. . .

And then this from the EDM (the ful article here)

Yekhanurov promised to stop the re-privatization campaign launched under Tymoshenko, which has turned many Western investors away from Ukraine after the Orange Revolution. "Sensitive privatization issues should be settled in negotiations with the possibility of out-of-court settlement," he said. In an attempt to woo domestic tycoons, who have suffered from re-privatization most, Yekhanurov promised "professional talks" with them "to make sure that they live not on the islands, but in Ukraine." Yekhanurov must know what to tell them, as it was he who shaped privatization rules in the mid-1990s, when he was getting the State Property Fund off the ground as its first chairman.

In foreign matters, Yekhanurov may be more pro-Russia than his predecessor. He was not shy to voice support for the plans for a Single Economic Space (SES) with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan at the height of the Orange Revolution, when this concept was not popular. Now he has promised, "The SES issue and ties with Russia will be greatly improved."

Yekhanurov said that Yushchenko tasked him with improving relations with Moscow. "What sort of relations with Russia's cabinet can a Russian-born have? I hail from Siberia, and I believe they will view me as a fellow countryman," Yekhanurov said on September 9. He was born in Russia's northern Yakutiya republic, but moved to Ukraine as teenager.


All of this is supposed to be better for Ukraine? A guy who was involved during the first wave of corrupt privatizations? Betrayal of the promises of the OR to right the wrongs of the past by refusing to go further with reprivatizations? Being the lackey of western investors who don't like populist reprivatizations, who cherish stability over justice? Closer ties with Russia (in light of the murky schemes that continue to go on, as outlined in the above article) and someone who talks in the rhetoric of eastern Ukrainian politicians that on both sides of the border are fellow countrymen?

I hope my alarm is proven all for not.