Maidan

Financial Times

By Tom Warner in Kiev

September 6 2005

The political team that led Ukraine through last winter's Orange Revolution was on the verge of splitting yesterday as President Viktor Yushchenko's chief of staff said he was resigning because of corruption within the president's inner circle.

Olexander Zinchenko, who headed Mr Yushchenko's election campaign, called on the president to sack his national security council secretary, Petro Poroshenko, and his first aide, Olexander Tretyakov, whom Mr Zinchenko accused of "cynically realising their plan to utilise authority to their own purposes".

He told a press conference: "I can't and I don't want to put up with this outrage towards the law."

Mr Zinchenko's departure comes amid an increasingly public dispute between Mr Yushchenko and his prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, who is widely believed to be preparing to head her own, separate electoral list for parliamentary elections next March in case Mr Yushchenko indicates he does not want her back as premier after the March vote.

Mr Yushchenko in recent months has increasingly turned to Mr Poroshenko and a group of his allies, including Mr Tretyakov, for personnel and policy decisions.

Mr Poroshenko, clearly on the defensive, surprised onlookers and arrived uninvited at Mr Zinchenko's press conference.

After Mr Zinchenko left the press conference, Mr Poroshenko refuted the departing chief of staff's accusations. Mr Zinchenko, he said, had not explained or backed up his claims with any evidence, and Mr Zinchenko should have helped "bring those involved in corruption to justice", instead of making "unproven political accusations".

The dispute between Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko has been exacerbated as different groups of businessmen seeking to gain control of key industrial and media assets have allied themselves to one or other political camp.

Last week, Mr Yushchenko sharply criticised Ms Tymoshenko for her handling of a court battle in which the government is seeking to reverse the 2003 privatisation and sale of a big metallurgy plant, Nikopol Ferroalloy, to Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of former president Leonid Kuchma.

Mr Yushchenko backed the reversal, but criticised Ms Tymoshenko for helping another prominent local businessman, Igor Kolomoysky, who owns a minority stake, increase his influence at the company prior to the new auction.

Ms Tymoshenko has insisted her actions were correct and legal. Mr Kolomoysky, in recent interviews, accused Mr Poroshenko of trying to halt the reversal of the sale and of seeking to allow Mr Pinchuk to sell his stake to Russian oligarchs. Mr Poroshenko has strongly denied such intent.

Mr Zinchenko's accusations come after Ms Tymoshenko has increasingly complained that aides to the Ukrainian president were favouring certain businessmen and seeking to enrich themselves.