Ukrainian President has fired Agribusiness Minister Boris
Supykhanov for his "lack of proper arrangements for the harvest campaign
resulting in immense losses", Interfax Ukraine reports.Complying with his
image-makers' recommendations, President Kuchma warned the Cabinet and
oblast state administration heads, "I want you think of your people in
the first place. If you do you will show a little bit better performance."
Identifying himself in the role of a just and demanding master of the
house suddenly confronted with the bad news about inadequate domestics,
Mr. Kuchma angrily demanded to know what all those responsible for the
Ukrainian countryside thought they were doing. Specifically, the head of
state wanted to know what was wrong with fuel and lubricant supplies in
the agrarian sector. Why hadn't they reported their problems? He would
then use the hot line to get in touch with some neighboring presidents
and they would help... Of course, a true master knows of problems such
as short fuel supply, lack of reserves, and obsolete equipment well in
advance of harvest time. And the Ukrainian Speaker pointed this out in
no uncertain words. Nor should one have any difficulty in attributing this
dismissal to Verkhovna Rada's harvest deliberations, presided over, of
course, by Ukraine's "number one farmer" Oleksandr Tkachenko. The Solons,
much as they lashed out at the Cabinet for clumsy arrangements and lack
of coordination, returned a comparatively benign verdict: the ministers
should not be blamed for the current disastrous economic situation in general
and bungling the harvest campaign in particular. The Speaker summed it
all up declaring that there is "no real head of state." Needless to say,
firing the Agriculture Minister will not help improve the harvest campaign
or provide fuel supplies.
There is, however, another aspect to the problem, namely Mr. Supykhanov's
family relationship with Valery Pustovoitenko. For this reason the minister's
retirement will backfire, as far as the Ukrainian Premier is concerned.
Incidentally, Mr. Pustovoitenko was absent from the Cabinet meeting summing
up its economic performance over the first half of the year, leaving President
Kuchma expressly displeased. In fact, the chief executive declared that,
considering the overall situation, Deputy Premier Tyhypko was right when
he said that Ukraine is moving toward an economic crisis, contrary to Valery
Pustovoitenko's optimistic assurances in Parliament.






