When Greek meets Greek

This is a true saying: in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies — only interests. Do you remember how Arsenii Yatseniuk became the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada on Dec. 4, 2007? That day Yulia Tymoshenko was among the first MPs to vote for him. And before casting their ballot, each MP showed it to Oleksandr Turchynov and Tymoshenko. In order to secure 227 votes, they transported sick Ivan Spodarenko, a NU-NS member, from an intensive care unit and brought Kostiantyn Zhevaho, a BYuT member, one of the wealthiest people in Ukraine, and a rare guest in the parliament building. Tymoshenko essentially made Yatseniuk Speaker. He returned the favor by casting his decisive vote for her premiership. When in November 2008 Yatseniuk was sacked (the votes from the YeTs faction made all the difference), Tymoshenko declared the democratic forces in parliament had been betrayed and destroyed. However, in January 2009 there is not a trace of the strong partnership between the two politicians and even the tone has changed. Now Tymoshenko calls Yatseniuk “this young MP.”

The premier has recently stated on Channel 5 that “behind the scenes in the Verkhovna Rada everyone links Yatseniuk to Firtash, and everyone says that Firtash is funding this new young project.” It is worth mentioning that this kind of talk is indeed taking place and is based on the presumption that after his strategic defeat on the gas front Firtash will have to hedge his political risks and opt for supporting an entire range of new party projects.

Remarkably, the ex-speaker has not reacted in any way to Tymoshenko’s attack. The Day tried to contact Yatseniuk through his press secretary Andrii Zhyhulin. We were told that Yatseniuk was in a meeting. The meeting appeared to be endless and it still continues.

However, Yatseniuk’s aides deny the premier’s claims about Firtash’s involvement. The political scientist Kost Bondarenko, who was an advisor to the ex-speaker for some time, is sure that Tymoshenko sees Yatseniuk as her rival and “wants to bring him down at the start.”

“Moreover, people in Yulia Tymoshenko’s milieu are afraid that at some stage Yushchenko may appoint Yatseniuk his successor. They have this sort of fears. This is the reason why they need to smear Yatseniuk’s name somehow. And because Firtash’s name has become a kind of a general name, they are trying to link Yatseniuk to him. In reality there is no connection between Firtash and Yatseniuk, except the fact that both come from Chernivtsi,” Bondarenko explained in his interview to The Day.

However, what’s the big deal even if Firtash gives money to Yatseniuk for an election campaign? It is a blessing that the FSB (Russia’s Security Service), the CIA, and Israel’s Mossad are not doing this. Why is actually Firtash worse than Zhevaho, Hubsky, or Feldman? After all, all our oligarchs have been at the cookie jar.

In fact, cooperation with Firtash would be more than profitable for Yatseniuk. It could provide him with the necessary financial, organizational, and media resource (the Inter TV channel), which he does not have at the moment and is not likely to obtain if he runs for president as an independent candidate. Besides, they both come from Chernivtsi: Yatseniuk was born there, while Firtash ran the KMIL Company in this city and took his first steps on the way to the big business there.

There is another interesting moment: how feasible is the Ukrainian version of the “successor” operation? These talks are most likely mere fantasies. Just on the contrary, Yushchenko will do everything to consolidate his position and show that he still has power. Moreover, protection of the unpopular president with his 3.4-percent rating may only do harm to Yatseniuk. By the way, according to FOM-Ukraina, in late November he took the third place on the list of potential presidential candidates with 6.6 percent.

Is Yatseniuk able to compete with Tymoshenko? Experts are divided on this question. Some are sure that he is, while others disagree, saying that his is a figure of much smaller caliber and a small fish cannot vie with a big fish. Others think that Yatseniuk stands good chances. He is a well-educated intellectual with a good deal of charisma. However, his dazzling success may cause a sort of irritation among the potential electorate. But the main thing is that many people are sick and tired of the heavyweights of Ukrainian politics—Tymoshenko and Yanukovych. Our society has a demand for new leaders. Maybe this is why Tymoshenko is so nervous.