Maidan

Source: The Australian

Jack Malvern, London
09jul05 

He is a rottweiler-owning rock singer from Leeds, she is the daughter of the Ukrainian Prime Minister: they seem a mismatched couple whose unlikely romance would succeed only in fiction.

But Sean Carr, a cobbler and key cutter when he is not singing with a heavy metal band, is to wed Evgenia Tymoshenko, the daughter of Ukraine's billionaire Prime Minister.

Evgenia's mother, Yuliya, became a heroine in Ukraine after she led the Orange Revolution against Leonid Kuchma, the country's unpopular and autocratic former president.

Ms Tymoshenko was swept to power alongside Viktor Yushchenko and became known for the rousing speeches she made to her followers, who spent weeks protesting against the Government in sub-zero temperatures.

Mr Carr, a tattooed singer who plays in a band called Death Valley Screamers, closed his market stall in Leeds and moved to Ukraine after meeting his future wife in a bar in Egypt.

The Prime Minister's daughter, who is often pictured accompanying her mother at events, fell in love with Mr Carr at an Egyptian holiday resort.

The improbable romance began when Ms Tymoshenko, 25, asked for Mr Carr's number from his friend, who initially asked for payment in return. By the time he relented, Mr Carr had returned to Britain.

Ms Tymoshenko, who studied at the London School of Economics, sent Mr Carr, 36, a text message on her return to London and they arranged to meet at a biker festival.

But it was only when Mr Carr visited her flat in London that he discovered that she was the heiress to a multi-billion-pound fortune.

He told The Yorkshire Evening Post: "I still didn't know about her mum, but she seemed to be living in an awful lot of luxury for a student."

Five months after they met and the Orange Revolution was at its height, Mr Carr visited Ukraine. Yuliya Tymoshenko was leading the opposition movement alongside Mr Yushchenko, who is now the President.

The day after Mr Carr arrived in Ukraine he stood on a stage in front of thousands of people as his future mother-in-law called for Mr Kuchma to resign. She was appointed Prime Minister six months ago.

Mr Carr said that he was initially terrified of his fiancee's mother, but now calls her "Mama" and has moved his customised Harley-Davidson motorcycle and 11-stone rottweiler, Salem, to Ukraine.

"I know it's mad," he said. "I can't really believe it myself. It's just bizarre. It has been a big adjustment for me but I am making it. I am picking up some Ukrainian and have formed a rock band."

Yuliya Tymoshenko, who recently had to cancel a visit to Moscow because of an outstanding warrant for her arrest in Russia, said that she was delighted by her prospective son-in-law.

"He is an excellent person," she said. "He has a beautiful name. I know he writes music, sings very wonderfully and writes good poetry. He is an artistic person and I like that very much. I like it that he is not a businessman."