“The government will act in an adequate fashion”

The declared incomes of President Viktor Yushchenko and his family will be made public this week, the head of state’s chief of staff Oleh Rybachuk told a briefing last Friday. “The declarations of Viktor Yushchenko, Kateryna Yushchenko, and the children who reside with them will be published early next week,” he said. The president’s family includes their underage daughters Khrystyna and Sofia and their one-and-a-half-year-old son Taras. The president’s older son, Andriy Yushchenko, whose declared income is a point of special interest for journalists, lives apart from his father. So, to quote Rybachuk, “it is up to Andriy himself...He is formally an independent individual. I agree that his political understanding of responsibility may be a point of discussion, but while the president, like any other governmental official, must make his declaration public, in this case it is rather a question of ethics for the family,” Rybachuk noted. He also said that a political campaign has developed around the Yushchenko family. “Unfortunately, the truth is that the Yushchenko family is the subject of a political campaign and various scenarios are bound to develop. There are no rules in these battles,” the presidential chief of staff said.

Rybachuk also revealed that blood samples will be tested in a certified foreign laboratory on Dec. 1-10 to confirm the fact that President Yushchenko was poisoned. “Under the crime investigation procedure, a forensic examination is required to establish the fact that an individual who survived was poisoned. The decision to test samples of blood, hair, and adipose tissue was made only on Oct. 20, 2005,” Rybachuk said. He emphasized that former Prosecutor General Sviatoslav Piskun did not assist the investigation into the poisoning case and refused to order a forensic examination. “He would look me in the eyes and say, ‘There’s no such need’,” Rybachuk said, explaining that this triggered speculation that the president was opposed to the examination.

The presidential chief of staff also commented on the parliamentary resolution advising against inviting bids for the Kryvorizhstal steel mill. In his view, “the main goal of this Verkhovna Rada decision is to discredit the Ukrainian government.” Rybachuk said he knows that a few parliamentary factions are going to blockade the State Property Fund on Monday in order to foil the Kryvorizhstal privatization auction. In connection with this, he will hold a meeting about possible scenarios stemming from attempts to block the auction and emphasized that “the government will act in an adequate fashion.”