Yanukovych - a man of the oligarchs?

Check out this very good analysis from Olga Shumylo-Tapiola of the Carnegie Endowment for International piece, entitled: "Viktor Yanukovych - a man of the oligarchs", here

"Perceptions of Yanukovych vary. He is alternately seen as a tyrant-in-the-making or an effective strongman, a weak personality controlled by oligarchs or a politician trying to rise above them, a pro-Russian president or one afraid of a Russian takeover. The simple truth is that Yanukovych is neither one nor the other. While he is not ideological—and doesn’t have an evil plan to subvert Ukrainian democracy and turn the country into a police state—he also doesn’t seem to want to improve the lives of average Ukrainians.

His goal appears to be to create a system that will allow him and his network of oligarchs to gain and consolidate control over Ukraine and its assets, benefitting from them without external interference.

Staying in power is a matter of survival for Yanukovych and his entourage. They will do everything to establish their control over the different branches of government, putting their people in the right places, and silencing those who speak out against them."

Right on...