LANOVY OUT AT SPF

President Kuchma issued an edict yesterday, appointing Oleksandr Bondar, previously First Deputy Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, its acting head.

Experts believe that Volodymyr Lanovy had to step down because of his failure in the elections. However, his image was also damaged by recent parliamentary-privatization developments. Despite his efforts to clean up the Fund, including accusations against Deputy Chairman Yuri Yekhanurov, and promises to make the privatization process transparent, the People’s Deputies, some of whom benefited from the opacity of privatization, turned down confirmation of the Presidential protОgО four times as SPF head.

As for Mr. Bondar, some experts do not rule out the possibility that his assignment is temporary until another person untainted by previous privatization scandals is selected, reports Yana Moiseyenkova, The Day.