Viktor Yanukovych

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9th & 12th Prime Minister of Ukraine
Viktor Yanukovych Віктор Янукович

In office November 21, 2002 – December 7, 2004 December 28, 2004 – January 5, 2005 August 4, 2006 – December 18, 2007
Preceded by	Anatoliy Kinakh Mykola Azarov Yuriy Yekhanurov
Succeeded by	Mykola Azarov Mykola Azarov Yulia Tymoshenko

Born	July 9, 1950 (1950-07-09) (age 57) Zhukovtse, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR
Political party	Party of Regions
Spouse	Lyudmila Yanukovych
Religion	Ukrainian Orthodox

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Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (Ukrainian: Віктор Федорович Янукович (help·info); Russian: Виктор Фёдорович Янукович) (born on July 9, 1950 in Yenakiieve, Donetsk Oblast) is also the leader of the Party of Regions, one of the main political parties in Ukraine.

Yanukovych was the Prime Minister of Ukraine twice - from November 21, 2002 to December 31, 2004 and from August 4, 2006 to December 18, 2007. He was the appointed Governor of Donetsk Oblast between 1997 and 2002. He was the runner-up in the 2004 Presidential election.

1 Biography
2 Governmental strategy
3 2004 presidential election in Ukraine
4 Post-2004 political career
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

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Yanukovych was born in Yenakiieve, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, in the working class neighborhood of Makiivka. His father, an ethnic Belarusian, was a locomotive driver and his mother, an ethnic Ukrainian was a nurse; she died when Viktor was 2 years old. As a teenager, he lost his parents and was brought up by his grandmother. Yanukovych regards himself as Ukrainian.

Twice, in 1968 and 1970, Yanukovych was convicted and imprisoned for robbery and bodily injury. During the 2004 presidential election, he announced his acquittal in 1978. However, a lack of documentation raised suspicions of forgery.

Georgi Beregovoi, a Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian background, has long been a patron of Yanukovych. As the then-Soviet member of parliament for Donbas, Beregovoi was said to be protecting an unjustly convicted youngster and promoting his future 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 graduation, Yanukovych was appointed chief manager of a transportation company in Yenakiieve and admitted to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This appointment marked the start of managerial positions in regional, automotive transport. Yanukovych's political career began when he was appointed as a vice Head of Donetsk Oblast Administration in August, 1996. On May 14th, 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, Yanukovych 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.

Yanukovych's opponents have accused him of having been connected to local organized crime since the late 1980s and being its lobbyist up to national-level politics. He is closely linked to the so-called clan of Donetsk, an eastern-Ukraine-based business and political group, and its leader Rinat Akhmetov. Some allegations reached the Ukrainian press that Yanukovych had a secret relationship with the KGB (which supposedly started during his imprisonment). There was no documented proof 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 is a devoted Orthodox Christian and a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He is married and has two sons. He enjoys tennis, hunting and pigeon-breeding. When young he participated in international auto racing competitions.

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During 2003-2004 Ukrainian Government headed by Viktor Yanukovych implemented the series of economic (tax, pensionary, fiscal, ets.) and political (the Constitution amendments) reforms that led to two-digit annual growth of GDP^{[dubious – discuss]}. Annual growth of GDP achieved 109.6% in 2003 and 112.1% in 2004 (cf. 102.7% in 2005), capital investments 131.3% and 128.0% (cf. 101.9% in 2005) correspondingly. The highest rate in processing industry, viz. engineering industry, building sector.

Further information: Ukrainian presidential election, 2004, Orange Revolution

Viktor Yanukovych Campaign Poster 2004.

In 2004, as the prime-minister, Yanukovych participated in the controversial Ukrainian presidential election, but eventually lost the election to the opposition candidate, Viktor Yuschenko. In the 31st October first round he took the second place with 39.32% of the votes to Viktor Yuschenko with 39.87%.^[1] A second round was scheduled because no candidate got 50% of the votes. 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.^{[citation needed]} Five days after the defeat in the presidential election, Yanukovych declared his resignation from the post of prime minister.

For the election, Yanukovych wrote an autobiography for the CEC (Central Election Committee), in which he misspelled his academic degree as "proFFessor". Thereafter, he came to be widely referred to under this nickname in oppositional media and opponents' speeches.

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Following his electoral defeat in 2004, Yanukovych led the Party of Regions in the 2006 parliamentary election. These elections determined the next government's makeup as, due to constitutional changes that came into force on January 1, 2006, the Prime Minister and his cabinet are now appointed by the parliament.

In January 2006, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine started the official investigation of the allegedly false acquittal from the criminal convictions Yanukovych received in his youth. Yuriy Lutsenko, the head of the ministry, announced that forensic test has proven the forgery of the respective documents (issued in 2002-2004 instead of 1978) and initially claimed that lack of the formal acquittal precluded Yanukovych from running for the seat in the 2006 parliamentary election.^[2] However, the latter statement was corrected within days by Lutsenko himself who conceded that the outcome of the investigation into the legality of the Yanukovych's acquittal could not affect his eligibility to run for the parliament seat since the deprivation of his civil rights due to the past convictions would have expired anyway due to their statute of limitations.^[3]^[4]

Despite having ruled out any post-election deals with the parties headed by either Yushchenko or former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as well as the animus between himself and the President, Yanukovych and Yushchenko alike were forced to come to terms following the former's electoral victory. In exchange for Yanukovych's assurance that he will not interfere with the pro-Western international ambitions of the President, Yushchenko commissioned Yanukovych to form a government in cooperation with his own Our Ukraine party on 3 August 2006 (several hours after the deadline for doing so expired). The so-called "humanitarian" ministries, as well as the army and the police, remain headed by Yushchenko's allies, but the ministries dealing with the economy and finances, as well as all deputy Prime Ministerial posts came under Yanukovych's control.

Erstwhile Yushchenko ally and former Prime Minister Tymoshenko announced her intention to lead her party into opposition immediately afterwards.^[5]

On May 25, 2007, Viktor Yanukovych was assigned the post of appointed chairman of the Government Chiefs Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States.^[6]

2007 Ukrainian political crisis

^ Ukraine rivals clash in TV debate
^ Lutsenko accepts the fact of falsification with the clearing of charges on Yanukovych (Russian). Korrespondent. Retrieved on January 15, 2007.
^ The head of MVD of Ukraine did not find a way to remove Yanukovych from the election ballot (Russian). Lenta.ru. Retrieved on January 15, 2007.
^ Yanukovych can go to the elections, even with falsifications (Russian). Korrespondent. Retrieved on January 15, 2007.
^ Yanukovych approved as Ukraine PM (English). BBC News. Retrieved on January 15, 2007.
^ Viktor Yanukovych was appointed chairman of the Government Chiefs Council of the CIS (English). for-ua. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.

ya2006.com.ua — Viktor Yanukovych Personal Information Server (previously known as ya2004)
CLAN of Yanukovich: YANUKOVICH

Political offices
Preceded by Anatoliy Kinakh	Prime Minister of Ukraine November 21, 2002–December 7, 2004	Succeeded by Mykola Azarov
Preceded by Mykola Azarov	Prime Minister of Ukraine December 28, 2004–January 5, 2005	Succeeded by Mykola Azarov
Preceded by Yuriy Yekhanurov	Prime Minister of Ukraine August 4, 2006–December 18, 2007	Succeeded by Yulia Tymoshenko