Viktor Yanukovych

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Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (Ukrainian: Віктор Федорович Янукович; Russian: ), (born July 9 1950) is a Ukrainian politician and statesman. He is the leader of the Party of Regions, one of the main political parties in Ukraine, currently in opposition.

Yanukovych was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from November 21, 2002 to December 31, 2004 and the appointed Governor of Donetsk Oblast between 1997 and 2002. He was a runner-up in 2004 Presidential election.

Biography

Yanukovych was born in Yenakiieve, Donetsk Oblast, in the working class neighborhood of Makiivka. His father, an ethnic Belarusian, was a locomotive operator and his mother, an ethnic Ukrainian was a nurse; she died when Viktor was 2 year old. When a teenager, he was orphaned and was brought up by his grandmother. Yanukovych selfassesses that he is an Ukrainian.

Twice, in 1968 and 1970, Yanukovych was convicted and imprisoned for robbery and bodily injury. During 2004 presidential election, he announced having been acquitted of guilt back in 1978. However, no documentation has been presented, which raised suspicions of forgery.

Yanukovych has been long patronized by Georgi Beregovoi, a Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian background. Being, then, the Soviet member of parliament for Donbas, Beregovoi was said to be protecting an unjustly convicted youngster and promoting his further career.

In 1972, Yanukovych became an electrician in a local bus company and later finished tekhnikum. In 1980, he graduated (by correspondence) from Donetsk Polytechnic Institute, with a major in mechanical engineering. Immediately after that, Yanukovych was appointed chief manager of a transportation company in Yenakiyeve (Donetsk Oblast) and admitted to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This was the start of a quick management career in regional automotive transport. Yanukovych's political career began when he was appointed as a vice Head of Donetsk Oblast Administration in August of 1996. On May 14, 1997 he was appointed as the Head of the Administration (Governor). Between May 1999 and May 2001 he was also the Head of Donetsk Oblast Rada (Council).

In 2001 he graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade as a Master of International Law. Later, Yanukovych was granted the titles of Doctor of Science and Professor.

Publication of documents that Yanukovych wrote by hand revealed that numerous spelling mistakes; in particular, he was unable to write properly his position, professor title or wife's name in Ukrainian language. For this he was much ridiculed through the media, and the questions about his professional abilities were raised, particularly because Ukrainian is adopted as the only state language in Ukraine and state officials are required to have sufficient knowledge of the language to be able to perform their duties.

Yanukovych has been accused by his opponents of being connected to local organized crime since the late 1980s and being its lobbyist up to national-level politics. Indeed, he is closely linked to the so-called clan of Donetsk, an eastern-Ukraine-based business and political group, and its leader Rinat Akhmetov. It is commonly alleged that these businessmen have connections to organized crime although such allegations were never proven in court.

Some allegations reached the Ukrainian press that Yanukovych was in secret relationship with the KGB (which supposedly started during his imprisonment). There were no documented proofs provided to support such allegations, however. Proponents of this story argue that as an ex-convict, Yanukovych could not enter the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute, travel to the West, and later make a career, unless he was protected by some powerful "shadow force".

Viktor Yanukovych claims to be a devoted Orthodox Christian and a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchy). He is married and has two sons. He plays tennis, likes hunting, and pigeon-breeding. When young he participated in international auto racing competitions.

2004 presidential election in Ukraine

Further information: Ukrainian presidential election, 2004, Orange Revolution

In 2004, being the prime-minister, Yanukovych participated in the controversial Ukrainian presidential election, but eventually lost the election to the opposition candidate, Viktor Yuschenko. In the first round he took the second place and because Viktor Yuschenko, who took the first place, didn't get 50% votes the second round was scheduled. In the second round of the election, Yanukovych was initially declared the winner. However, the legitimacy of the election was questioned by many Ukrainians, international organisations, and foreign governments. The second round of the election was subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and in the repeated run-off, Yanukovych lost to Yushchenko.

The Ukrainian parliament also passed a non-binding motion of no confidence in his government, urging outgoing president Leonid Kuchma to dismiss Yanukovych and appoint a caretaker government. Five days after the defeat in the presidential election, Yanukovych declared his resignation from the post of prime minister.

Post-2004 Political Career

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