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Wednesday, March 21, 2007


Kid Pro Quo: Yatsenyuk to Helm Foreign Affairs

Surprise! Deputy Chief of the Secretariat Arseniy Yatsenyuk, 32, got a new job too.

Being a compromise candidate, he garnered a whopping 426 votes in the Rada on Wednesday. Analytically speaking, he’s reaping the dividends of his highly diversified portfolio of connections.

Other than that, he’s talented and energetic. Finally, the Yanukovych Cabinet has a guy who speaks a little English. (Ouch! Numb with shock, career diplomats like Tarasyuk could barely conceal their disdain.)


Anatoliy Kinakh has replaced Volodymyr Makukha as Minister of Economy. Speaker Moroz, posing as an expert on parliamentary democracy, has stated that the interests of the USPP should be represented in the government. Obviously, the alchemy of separating business from government must be entering some strange, shape-shifting phase.

Too bad Ukraine ranks a dismal 125th out of the 161 countries surveyed in the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom.

All of which suggests that cradle is not the only thing getting robbed in this country.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yatsenyuk might just end up surprising PoR which would mean that his tenure would be cut short. Ohryzko is a career diplomat with lots of connections and for PoR was a major threat but Yatsenyuk would not be seen the same way at all. But he may just surprise them.

I remember the furor over Lutsenko over being made Min. of Internal Affairs - the FIRST ever civilian to be in that post. Speculation was that it would never work out, horrible disaster, etc. BUT it did not go that way at all. It all depends on Yatsenyuk's people skills and his showing his new staff his professionalism and his loyalty to them.

Anonymous said...

Oopsy - forgot to say that the real fly in the ointment in this situation is Tarasyuk. He will not support Yatsenyuk (even though solidarity would be a good idea) as he is affronted by the appt. of this non-career diplomat [which is a slap in the face of Tarasyuk in the nature of - this job can be done by anyone and you are not so special after all.)] (Wow people must really have hate/d Tarasyuk.)

Taras said...

Yatsenyuk will keep this job only if he steers a middle course.

As he finds himself in a matrix organization — working for two gods at odds with each other — he will develop his own brand of multivectorism. (Clumsily, Tarasyuk tried to pull multivectorism off production, but the Anticrisis Coalition arrived just in time to put it back in operation.)

Organizationally, Yatsenyuk will start by appeasing and, if necessary, neutralizing a hostile staff of career diplomats whose egos he has busted. I’m sure his people skills will allow him to do so. As a onetime rookie partner of civilian Tsushko, he may have certain privileges. So, if he needs extra help, he can count on it:)))

As we can see, the Kuchmatrix has reloaded. The eggs it once put in the Orange basket are deserting. The eggs that refuse to cooperate are being crushed or contained.

Neo seems to be saying, “Just give me a small raise, and you’ll never hear from me again.” And Trinity must have taken a vow of silence for the last couple of days.

Anonymous said...

That's right! - Trinity is waiting to see if Lutsenko sinks or swims - if he stays afloat and should he (heavens to Betsy) become as popular as she - she will swoop in like an angel sent from above to help fight the good fight. And then make sure that she receives top billing!

Which is why "the Money" behind Lutsenko the NU deputy fascinates me so.
God, what a patriot.
My deepest deepest deepest thanks and best wishes to him.

Taras said...

They say an attempt on Trinity’s life has been foiled by the SBU. That would account for her brief leave of absence.

If Trinity and Morpheus really want to get this party started, they should be coordinating their activities a bit more. Getting Neo involved would be great. You can’t just leave a friend in postpartum depression:)

Of course, the lyubi druzi moneybags behind Lutsenko creep me out. (Smacks of a throwback to the 2004 campaign.) Yet I'm glad that the specter of the March on Kyiv keeps Yanukovych breaking out in cold sweat. You should've seen his press conference today!:)

Anonymous said...

Just like Trinity's mysterious illness which was the official reason for cancelling the NY leg of her junket, I don't buy the cover story regarding her remaining in the shadows. But it will, break out the kleenex, add to her repertoire when she speaks about how she has suffered. (for real suffering see the liquidators on hunger strike in Donetsk) (I am so disgusted by the sheer arrogance/disrespect exhibited by some of these politicos.)

But I am really freaked out for the safety and security of Lutsenko.

Taras said...

Thank God, Lutsenko is still on the loose:)

Let’s not be so hard on Trinity:) She’s back. And she’s breathing fire! (I watched her press conference, which came two hours after Yanukovych’s:)

As a native of Dnipropetrovsk, she has a lot of upward potential in eastern Ukraine. And it’s those people you mentioned — members of Chernobyl cleanup crews, or liquidators, as we call them — that she should reach out for.

And, of course, Trinity can do her best only when she’s being true to her name.

Anonymous said...

My last words on this -
She can breathe fire, lava, bubbles -- does not matter ... but they are ONLY words. I look at the results of the actions that she has taken and they do NOT lie. She has not acted in the best interests of the country and she did not even carry her own hometown oblast - which should tell you something! Normally that is a solid not the stomping ground of the other candidate. But does not matter she has UA Pravda in her corner, Nemyria, Turchynov, etc. and the power of the braid (which btw is not even traditional and is a bastardized version - women wore their hair in braids down not up.)

Taras said...

Can't disagree with you. She's been a bad girl, and everybody knows that.

But if we are to do something about the Coalition of National ImpUnity, we make do with what we got. And we can’t do without her. Nor can we do without the old man.

It’s like one of those Madonna songs, “We have got to get together.” (“Holiday”) Except that the holiday is not ours yet.

Anonymous said...

Trin=Timo
Morph=Yusch
Neo=Luts?

dlw

Taras said...

Trin=Tymo
Morph=Luts
Neo=Yushch

The analogy has more satire to it than substance.