This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/world/europe/ukraine-acting-prime-minister-arseniy-yatsenyuk.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Leading Ukraine, a Technocrat Encircled by Problems Ukraine’s New Premier, the ‘Rabbit,’ Seems to Be in His Element
(about 5 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — For three months, throughout the uprising and upheaval in Kiev, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, was one of three political leaders who appeared regularly on stage in Independence Square, but often seemed out of his element. A former foreign minister, economics minister, speaker of Parliament and acting central bank chief, he is more at home in boardrooms, and in the corridors of power, than on the barricades. KIEV, Ukraine — For three months, throughout the uprising and upheaval in Kiev, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk was one of three political leaders who appeared regularly on stage in Independence Square, but he often seemed out of his element. A former foreign minister, economics minister, speaker of Parliament and acting central bank chief, he is more at home in boardrooms and in the corridors of power than on the barricades.
Now, two weeks after his colleagues in Parliament named him acting prime minister — a job he called “political suicide” even before Russia invaded Crimea — Mr. Yatsenyuk, 39, is in a role that suits him better than that of street revolutionary, but has thrust him to the center of crisis. On Wednesday, he was in Washington to meet with President Obama and other top officials to plead for economic and political assistance. Now, two weeks after his colleagues in Parliament named him acting prime minister — a job he called “political suicide” even before Russia invaded Crimea — Mr. Yatsenyuk, 39, is in a role that suits him better than that of street revolutionary, but that has thrust him to the center of the crisis.
Among Ukrainians who like to talk politics, Mr. Yatsenyuk, is often known as “Rabbit” because of an uncanny resemblance to the character in the Soviet cartoon version of “Winnie the Pooh” — lanky, bald and wearing a distinctive pair of eyeglasses. Derided as an uninspiring technician during a failed presidential campaign in 2010, some watching Mr. Yatsenyuk say he is now the right man at the right moment. On Wednesday, he met in Washington with President Obama and other top officials to plead for economic and political assistance.
“Yesterday I was watching Yatsenyuk at his meeting with entrepreneurs,” Valeriy Pekar, a vice president of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, wrote on Facebook last week. “As much as the man was not in his place on Maidan,” he said using the nickname for Independence Square, “so he looked in his place as a prime minister.” Among Ukrainians who like to talk politics, Mr. Yatsenyuk is often known as “Rabbit” because of an uncanny resemblance to the character in the Soviet cartoon version of “Winnie the Pooh” — lanky, bald and wearing a distinctive pair of eyeglasses. Derided as an uninspiring technician during a failed presidential campaign in 2010, Mr. Yatsenyuk is now said by some Ukrainians to be the right man at the right moment.
“Yesterday I was watching Yatsenyuk at his meeting with entrepreneurs,” Valeriy Pekar, a vice president of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, wrote on Facebook last week. “As much as the man was not in his place on Maidan,” he said, using the nickname for Independence Square, “so he looked in his place as a prime minister.”
“We’re used to the Maidan Yatsenyuk, confused, indecisive,” continued Mr. Pekar, who runs Euroindex, Ukraine’s largest organizer of trade shows. “Yesterday I saw Premier Yatsenyuk, even with a high fever, he demonstrated a sharp mind, deep knowledge of economic processes, awareness of realities, switched easily between Ukrainian-Russian-English, immediate responses to questions and suggestions, sustainable economic liberalism and reformist determination.”“We’re used to the Maidan Yatsenyuk, confused, indecisive,” continued Mr. Pekar, who runs Euroindex, Ukraine’s largest organizer of trade shows. “Yesterday I saw Premier Yatsenyuk, even with a high fever, he demonstrated a sharp mind, deep knowledge of economic processes, awareness of realities, switched easily between Ukrainian-Russian-English, immediate responses to questions and suggestions, sustainable economic liberalism and reformist determination.”
“This,” Mr. Pekar summed up, “is what a person in the right place means.”“This,” Mr. Pekar summed up, “is what a person in the right place means.”
Of course, that remains to be seen.Of course, that remains to be seen.
Mr. Yatsenyuk confronts tremendous challenges in the post of acting prime minister, not just because of the Russian military threat and the secessionist push by regional leaders in Crimeae, but because of Ukraine’s deep financial problems and need for a large international bailout package. He also faces suspicion from a public that is deeply wary of his past service in the Ukrainian government, long known as a cesspool of corruption and mismanagement. Mr. Yatsenyuk confronts tremendous challenges as acting prime minister, not just because of the Russian military threat and the secessionist push by regional leaders in Crimea, but because of Ukraine’s deep financial problems and need for a large international bailout package. He also faces suspicion from a public that is deeply wary of his past service in the Ukrainian government, long dismissed as a cesspool of corruption and mismanagement.
The military confrontation with Russia, however, has raised the stakes, swiftly propelling Mr. Yatsenyuk beyond the tense negotiations he had expected with the International Monetary Fund and into the middle of a geopolitical firestorm that is perhaps the most tense confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the cold war. The military confrontation with Russia, however, has raised the stakes, swiftly propelling Mr. Yatsenyuk beyond the tense negotiations he had expected with the International Monetary Fund and into the middle of a geopolitical firestorm that is perhaps the most ominous confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.
His meeting with President Obama at the White House — a rare invitation for a new leader that is meant to demonstrate Washington’s unwavering support for the fledgling government in Kiev — will be followed by an appearance on Thursday at the United Nations, where he will appeal for international support in advance of a referendum in Crimea on Sunday that regional leaders hope will ratify their intention to secede from Ukraine. His meeting with President Obama at the White House — a rare invitation for a new leader — was meant to demonstrate Washington’s unwavering support for the fledgling government in Kiev. On Thursday, he is scheduled to visit the United Nations, where he will appeal for international support in advance of a referendum in Crimea on Sunday that regional leaders hope will ratify their intention to secede from Ukraine.
Mr. Yatsenyuk’s appeal in the West, where he is viewed as a capable steward fluent in the language of diplomacy and international finance, is already well known thanks to the secret recording of a telephone conversation between Victoria J. Nuland, a United States assistant secretary of state, and the American ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, in which they discussed the possibility of opposition leaders entering the government in late January, as part of a concession offered by Mr. Yanukovych. Mr. Yatsenyuk’s appeal in the West, where he is viewed as an able steward fluent in the language of diplomacy and international finance, is already well known because of a recording of a telephone conversation between Victoria J. Nuland, a United States assistant secretary of state, and the American ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, in which they discussed the possibility of opposition leaders entering the government in late January. “Yats is the guy who’s got the economic experience, the governing experience,” Ms. Nuland said, referring to Mr. Yatsenyuk, in a call during which she also famously directed an expletive at the European Union. In the end, Mr. Yatsenyuk rejected the offer to join the government because it would have left President Viktor F. Yanukoyvch in charge. Even now, it is not clear that Mr. Yatsenyuk will have a future in government beyond the presidential elections on May 25. The top contenders are expected to be the former boxer, Vitali Klitschko, a leader in Parliament who was also leader of the street protests, and Petro Poroshenko, a veteran lawmaker and one of Ukraine’s wealthiest businessman.
“Yats is the guy who’s got the economic experience, the governing experience,” Ms. Nuland said, referring to Mr. Yatsenyuk, in a call during which she also famously directed an expletive at the European Union. Mr. Yatsenyuk had been the leader in Parliament of Fatherland, the political party of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who was recently released from prison.
In the recording, which was apparently posted on the Internet by a Russian official, Mr. Pyatt noted that the Kremlin would react negatively to the rise of pro-Western leaders in Ukraine. “You can be pretty sure that if it does start to gain altitude, that the Russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it,” Mr. Pyatt says. However the next few months play out, it seems certain that Mr. Yatsenyuk (pronounced YA-tsen-yuk) will celebrate his 40th birthday on May 22 as prime minister.
In the end, Mr. Yatsenyuk rejected the offer to join the government because it would have left Mr. Yanukoyvch in charge and because it would most likely have doomed his own future political prospects. It is a role he seems to have been preparing for since childhood. Mr. Yatsenyuk was born in 1974 in Chernivtsi, not far from the border of Romania. His parents were professors at Chernivtsi National University.Mr. Yatsenyuk received a law degree from that university, and he later earned a master’s degree in accounting and auditing and a Ph.D. in economics from the Ukrainian Academy of Banking.
Even now, it is not clear that Mr. Yatsenyuk will have a future in government beyond the presidential elections on May 25, in which the leading contenders are expected to be Mr. Klitschko, Petro Poroshenko, a veteran lawmaker and one of Ukraine’s wealthiest businessman, and perhaps Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister and nemesis of Mr. Yanukovych who was recently released from prison. He founded a law firm and then worked for three years as a bank executive before entering public service. His first post was as minister of economics of Crimea, giving him a firsthand understanding of the region that is now trying to break away from Ukraine.
Until his appointment as acting prime minister, Mr. Yatsenyuk had been the leader in Parliament of Ms. Tymoshenko’s political party, Fatherland, having formed an alliance with her after the 2010 presidential race and having risen quickly to prominence above other longtime party officials, including Oleksandr V. Turchynov, who is now serving as speaker of Parliament and acting president of Ukraine. Leonid Grach, a former speaker of the Crimean Parliament, said that Mr. Yatsenyuk was not well liked. He changed the sign on his office door from Russian to Ukrainian, and was called “Little Gulliver” by some colleagues who viewed him as an outsider, Mr. Grach said. “Crimea was an accident for him, and he was an accident for Crimea,” he said.
Mr. Yatsenyuk’s ties to Ms. Tymoshenko have been an issue throughout his recent political career. In 2009, a spoof photo showed the two purportedly having sex, with Ms. Tymoshenko, in a cartoon bubble, declaring, “A verrrry technical candidate.” Mr. Yatsenyuk and his wife, Theresa, have two daughters, and he threatened to sue the magazine that published the spoof. Back in Kiev, he became deputy chairman and later acting chairman of Ukraine’s central bank, before serving as minister of economy and deputy head of the presidential administration under President Viktor A. Yushchenko, who later named him minister of foreign affairs.
However the next few months play out in Ukraine, it seems certain that Mr. Yatsenyuk will celebrate his 40th birthday, on May 22, as prime minister, leading a country long caught in a fierce tug of war between East and West, and now the subject of Europe’s most serious military confrontation since the breakup of Yugoslavia. In 2008, he was elected speaker of Parliament, a post he held for just under a year. Even with a long résumé in public service, Mr. Yatsenyuk faces many formidable and politically perilous tasks in addition to the crisis in Crimea. There is unrest in the heavily pro-Russian east of the country and the prospect of devastating trade sanctions by Russia should the conflict deepen.
It is a role that he seems to have been preparing for since childhood. Arseniy Petrovich Yatsenyuk was born in 1974, in Chernivtsi, not far from the border of Romania. His parents worked as professors at Chernivtsi National University, where his father taught history and his mother taught French. An article last year examining his swift rise in the Fatherland Party, published on a local news site, News24UA, noted that his success in the rough political arena was belied by his gentle reputation: “Everyone calls him a rabbit, a bunny or ‘our white and fluffy Senya.’ How did it happen that people associate a leader of today’s opposition forces with a meek, innocent animal?”
Mr. Yatsenyuk studied English beginning in grade school and later attended Chernivtsi National University where he received a law degree. He later earned a master’s degree in accounting and auditing, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Ukrainian Academy of Banking.
He founded a private law firm and then worked for three years as a bank executive before entering public service, with his first post being as the appointed minister of economics of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, giving him an early, firsthand understanding of the region that is now trying to break away from Ukraine.
From the Crimean capital of Simferopol, he moved to Kiev, where he became the deputy chairman and later the acting chairman of Ukraine’s central bank, working under another future presidential candidate, Sergey Tigipko, who remains a member of Parliament and a major player in national politics.
The banking post led to a series of positions in executive government, first as deputy head of the Odessa regional administration, then as minister of economy of Ukraine and as deputy head of the presidential administration under President Viktor A. Yushchenko, who later named him minister of foreign affairs. In 2008, he was elected speaker of Parliament, a post he held for just under a year.
Even with a long résumé in public service, the tasks ahead remain formidable and politically perilous. While the Russian occupation of Crimea presents an immediate threat to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, there is also unrest in the heavily pro-Russian east of the country and the prospect of devastating trade sanctions by Russia should the conflict with the Kremlin deepen.
An article last year examining Mr. Yatsenyuk’s swift rise in the Fatherland party, published on a local news site, News24UA, noted that his relentless pace and his success in the relatively rough political arena were not reflected in his gentle reputation. “Everyone calls him a rabbit, a bunny or ‘our white and fluffy Senya,'” it said. “How did it happen that people associate a leader of today’s opposition forces with a meek, innocent animal?”