On July 9 the Party of Regions Leader Viktor Yanukovych celebrated his 58th birthday. And again politics do not let him devote himself to the pleasant privacy as Ukraine experiences another political crisis. Similarly to what has already happened in July 2007, when Verkhovna Rada was dissolved for the pre-term elections. And in July 2006, when the "orange" camp failed to form a coalition according to the March elections results, and the broad coalition tried to convince president Yushchenko to rise above his personal liking and, thinking of Ukraine's well-being, carry out constitutional obligations and offer the parliament to confirm the candidature of Viktor Yanukovych for the head of the government.
There is no point in speaking about July 2004 and July 2005. If in one case Viktor Yanukovych's birthday fell on the height of presidential race, July of the next year was notable for the attempts of disclosing personal files and inventing criminal cases against those who did not stand at Maidan.
Taking into account the upcoming presidential elections and that the issue concerning the pre-term parliamentary elections has not been addressed yet (given breakdown of the NU-NS and BYUT coalition), the 60th anniversary could become a birthday at the peak of Viktor Yanukovych's career – in 2010.
But in this case all the more so Yanukovych will not manage to celebrate his birthday privately and just within the close family circle. Such is the fate of this person. He has never had ordinary birthdays. Because Yanukovych is needed both for time and Ukraine.
According to all sociological polls – and they show exceptional unanimity – today Viktor Yanukovych enjoys the highest confidence of Ukrainians and could expect victory at the presidential elections. Polls show not only that Yanukovych becomes the leader of the first round – he confidently wins the second round as well. It means that Viktor Yanukovych remains to be the most needed politician for Ukrainians – he is trusted and relied on. However, he cannot merely wait idly – an acute political and economic crisis is overflowing Ukraine at the moment, it is inadmissible to extend it for another year and a half.
Current Ukraine resembles post-war France to some extent, which at first rejected de Gaulle, preferring strong guidance to political jabber of populist forces, and afterwards, at the height of the acutest crisis, urged him to return. Given the processes occurring in the modern world – both on financial markets and regarding energy carriers – we, Ukrainians, do not have twelve years that were necessary for Frenchmen to understand that the state should be governed by those who are able to sign under every item of their pre-election pledges, those who know both price and limit for their promises, those for whom power is only a leverage to implement their capabilities and hopes of the most voters.
Ukraine has approached the edge of an abyss, and only awareness of danger can unite the society. The current authorities are incompetent. They are not up to any action unless it promises instantaneous benefits and their own enrichment. The team, which burst in power at the end of last year, wages a life-and-death war against each other. They pay no attention to global processes in the world economy, ignoring of which threatens to cast Ukrainian state away on the fringe of European development for a long time. The cost of their yesterday's "victory" is impoverishment of population and split within the society that lasts for the fourth year running and is studiously stirred up by "winners", who are likely to be sure that one part of the country must capture the other some day.
Luckily, the time of political merrymaking is coming to an end. A new period is setting in, when the society demands exceptionally high-professional leaders to be in power.
Viktor Yanukovych has proved more than once his professional maturity. He has the right to govern the state and may count on Ukrainians' trust. Ukraine led by Prime Minister Yanukovych demonstrated one of the best indices of the economic growth in Europe. At that time GDP reached a record figure – 12.4%. Viktor Yanukovych and his team ensured an increase in industrial production by 14%, having raised foreign trade turnover by over 30%. It created a furor in the business world as the global economy had not expected such breakthroughs. As for inflation, even in the light of growing wages, pensions and social payments it did not exceed 2-3%.
Having returned to power in 2006 Viktor Yanukovych succeeded to pass a test on strength once again – it was the experience of crisis management. Yanukovych "inherited" empty gas storages and out-of-control rise in prices for fuel. He started his work with the budget deficit of UAH 7 billion and no funding of social programs. Almost 3 million people received salary below living wage, salary of 814 thousand of Ukrainians was below the minimum one.
The economy was eventually saved. Having accomplished the whole range of first-priority anti-crisis measures by the beginning of 2007, the Yanukovych government could proceed to the implementation of strategic programs aimed at economic growth and increase in the level of citizens' well-being.
The government succeeded to ensure the economic growth of 8.7%, enlarge the volume of foreign investment to $10 billion. The Yanukovych team restrained rise in tariffs for population by conducting successful negotiations with Moscow on supplying energy carriers. Before the real blockading of parliament work, the government increased the level of wages by 20% and of pensions by 29%. The preparation of Ukraine for Euro 2012 was under way with a motto that has become a national idea: "Donetsk and Lviv, Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk will host Euro 2012 TOGETHER!"...
Further course of events is well known. The coalition "227", which even failed to approve their premier the very first time, having pronounced fine words that remained mere words, "presented" the country with the Tymoshenko government. Its performance and actions are not worth mentioning – they are obvious, beginning from inflation and prices and concluding with treacle pouring from economic story-tellers' lips every day. But they will not manage to fool citizens for a long time: a chasm is visible to everyone, and change of the government is a matter of the nearest future.
I am sure that for the third time as well Viktor Yanukovych will be able to overcome the situation, settle the crisis and show Europe that Ukraine is a tiger preparing for a jump. At that, Viktor Yanukovych has no choice – Ukrainians hope, and it means that the Party of Regions Leader has to work for everybody.
Viktor Yanukovych's background, which enables him today to be the person that he is, testifies that there were people next to him in difficult periods of his life who gave a helping hand. But they helped because they perceived in the ordinary fellow, who grew under conditions of depressed working settlement, an axis, a miner's will which enables to become a strong person even where it is practically impossible to do.
Only will and aspiration enabled him to get higher education and become the manager of an enterprise being 27 years old, and afterwards, with his proudly raised head, walk up the steep stairs. At the end of nineties Yanukovych turned the Donetsk region into a model of Ukraine's economic revival. He has honestly gained a right to apply his economic experience on the national scale.
Yanukovych's political fate is unenviable and enviable at the same time, though evokes respect – to win the presidential race and not become a president, not to sink into political fringe and become a prime minister again, win the parliamentary elections twice and find himself in opposition...
Now ambassadors of the European Union member-states are vividly interested in Yanukovych's opinion and for over two hours request his audience. For example, on May 27 at the meeting of the Ambassadors Club in Kyiv, they set quite sharp questions and after the meeting rose to applaud him. Diplomats note Yanukovych's tact and gentle sense of humor. They do not conceal that they imagined Viktor Yanukovych as a tough boss from Donbass but actually see in front of them a European leader of the highest standard. Such people are appreciated.
And nowadays whoever tried to lambaste Yanukovych and his peers, one cannot deny that exactly his government began to speak about social responsibility of national business and strategic co-operation between central power and regions earnestly, the words being supported by real actions.
On his 58th birthday Viktor Yanukovych should be wished only one thing: to clear a height. And then – the most important...
Olena RUBTSOVA, journalist.
Ukrainian weekly "Profil", No 26, July 12, 2008