Ukrainian media report that Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigns voluntarily from his post as Prime Minister. And that he will be replaced by Finance Minister Natalia Jaresko. Other sources deny.
‘RBC-Ukraine‘ is citing a source inside the government. According to this, Yatsenyuk is going to resign from his post and will be replaced by Jaresko who is going to form a ‘government of technocrats’. Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov denies Yatsenyuk’s resignation, as well as a MP of Yatsenyuk’s party. Other media report that the resignation has been decided, but that Yatsenyuk hasn’t agreed yet.
‘Ukrainskaya Pravda’ writes: “A source confirmed reports of Yatsenyuk’s resignation said that the decision had allegedly been made at a meeting of the so-called “strategic Seven” [group of the inner circle of the President and Prime Minister], which took place Friday afternoon in the presidential administration. According to information provided anonymously, Yatsenyuk may resign in a special session of parliament. At the same time allegedly Natalia Jaresko has been offered to become prime minister.”
A recent meeting of the German Foreign Minister and Yatsenyuk was commented by the German Foreign office as ‘intense talks’. This formulation indicates little common ground between the Prime Minister and one of the most relevant supporters of Ukraine in the international arena. In a recent interview with the ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine’ Yatsenyuk criticized President Petro Poroshenko heavily.
While the accuracy of the reports have to be confirmed, the contradicting rumors indicate that the political infighting that has been going on since months within the government sees another round of escalation. While Yatsenyuk’s position is eroding since a while, he has shown a high degree of resistance in order to maintain his political survival.
Yatsenyuk is said to represent a group old school oligarchs around Rinat Akhmetov, Ihor Kolomoyskyi and others. He is widely considered as an obstacle to reforms, his party lost massive voters over the last two years.
(wf,yg)
