Some public officials just don’t seem to heed the President’s call for frugality.
Meet Kyiv Oblast Governor Vira Ulyanchenko, a friend of President Yushchenko and his appointee, who sped away from the recent NUNS convention in a Mercedes S550 4Matic.
Asked by Serhiy Leshchenko of Ukrayinska Pravda about her luxury car, Governor Ulyanchenko replied, “That’s a leftover from Zasukha,” referring to former governor Anatoliy Zasukha, the local pillar of the Kuchma regime.
The only problem with her story, says Leshchenko, is that the Mercedes S550 4Matic simply did not exist during the Kuchma era.
Further investigation revealed that the car, bought in 2008, is registered to Ulyanchenko’s driver and, by arrangement, may also be used by her husband’s driver.
According to Ulyanchenko’s 2005 tax returns, she and her husband made Hr. 112,000 ($22,178) and Hr. 123,000 ($24,356) respectively and had no savings. In 2006, Ulyanchenko earned a monthly salary of Hr. 7,000 ($1,386).
Nice car, Mrs. Governor!
One more car thing. Here’s how President Yushchenko and PM Tymoshenko left the scene of the tragedy in Yevpatoria.
The “two for the road” failed to buckle up, thus violating traffic rules.
According to Tymoshenko, she and Yushchenko consumed two bottles of cognac on their flight back to Kyiv. “Bohatyryova was the third one. But I remained the soberest one,” Tymoshenko was quoted as saying.
Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/30/87030.htm
http://tabloid.pravda.com.ua/scandal/49592100d6a2b/
http://pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/29/86938.htm
Photo credits: Ukrayinska Pravda, Tabloid
Monday, January 05, 2009
Forget Frugality: Kyiv Governor Sports a Mercedes S550 4Matic!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
27 Dead in Apartment Blast in Yevpatoria, Crimea (Updated)
A massive explosion on Wednesday night blew an apartment block off a 5-storied building in Yevpatoria, Crimea, killing 27 people, including three children and entire families, one of them of five people. (as of Friday morning)
A group of 6-7 children believed to be trapped in the basement used cell phones to call their parents.
Almost 300 rescue workers are working around the clock.
The cause of the accident may have been oxygen tanks stored in the basement.
The rising death toll puts the tragedy in Yevpatoria next to last year's gas blast in Dnipropetrovsk.
PM Tymoshenko has pledged full government support to the victims and their families.
According to Channel 1+1 reporters, investigators retrieved a tank from the basement and, forbidding the reporters to film it, whisked it off the scene.
December 26 will be a day of mourning in Ukraine.
Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/26/86839.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86832.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86787.htm
http://5.ua/newsline/230//56232/
http://www.unian.net/ukr/news/news-292069.html
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86775.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86773.htm
Video uploaded from: http://5.ua/newsline/230//56232/
Photos courtesy of:
http://forum.planar.bz
http://forum.evpanet.com
http://www.nr2.ru/crimea/213891.html
