Alexandr Gorobets: Entering the New Year, Ukraine replaces its finance minister

In Kiev, resignation of Ukrainian finance minister, Igor Mityukov has been declared. For many years, while prime-ministers were replacing each other, Igor Mityukov with a forelock was just being moved up into the next team. Though recently, too many reproaches were heard addressed to him. While Yabluko party which has its own faction in the Supreme Rada many times tried to make the parliament consider the question about his resignation. The party’s leader Mikhail Brodski fully corresponding the party’s activities with its Moscow “namesake” (Yabloko party headed by Grigori Yavlinski) – once he even proposed Grigori Yavlinski, who originates from the city of Lvov, as a candidate for Ukraine’s president – constantly declares Mityukov is personally guilty of well known Ukraina super bank’s collapse. However according to official sources referring to prime-minister Anatoli Kinakh’s statement, one of the main reasons of the minister’s resignation was his unsatisfactory forming of the tax policy. In particular, Kinakh said: “The Ukrainian President is right not to be satisfied with Ukrainian Finance Ministry’s work what about forming the today’s finance policy, including the tax policy, and we have many claims to the ministry. Unfortunately, this function of the ministry is not being executed satisfactorily. An obvious case of it is the low quality of the Draft Tax Code which is being considered now by the parliament,” – Anatoli Kinakh said. Wednesday evening, just after the meeting devoted to budget’s execution, the Ukrainian President said about his decision to discharge Igor Mityukov and to appoint finance state secretary Igor Yushko, who earlier was member of the Supreme Rada’s budget committee, the minister. Anatoli Kinakh evaluated Yushko as a high professional, who deeply knows bank and finance systems and who has proved his skills as parliamentarian, as steady and moral person. “I am sure that while working at himself and being supported, he will become a professional finance minister, who will first of all work for society and perfect this direction, – Anatoli Kinakh noticed. – A resolute step was made to refresh the staff and to change the Finance Ministry into one of the main factors of forming today’s finance, budget and tax policy.” Igor Yushko is 40. He is Russian by birth. Before he was elected to the parliament he lived in Donets Basin. He belongs to Regions of Ukraine presidential party.

Alexandr Gorobets PRAVDA.Ru Kiev Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/12/27/35199.html