Sunday, January 06, 2013

Former pro-EU ministers will stay in background - for now

The excellent 'OdessaTalk' blog quite rightly points out that three of the most pro-EU ministers in the previous cabinet, Poroshenko, Khoroshkovsky and Tigipko, now find themselves adrift from the 'first circle' of political power.

'OdessaTalk' considers an ideological split within Party of Regions has already taken place and predicts: "Two very distinct camps will emerge, both with some serious money and very public figures within them championing their respective causes!"

Khoroshkovsky runs Ukraine's most watched television channel - Inter. He has pledged to to make its news coverage more balanced. And there are rumours he recently declined an risible offer to sell up his stake in his media holdings ..

The Yanukovych 'family' business empire has grown dramatically in the last two years...but, as yet does not include any major mass media broadcasters. Control of such assets would of course be highly desirable in the run-up to the 2015 presidential elections...However, 29% of Inter may already be in the hands of Russia's Gazprom. Could this be a factor in 'Mentadent', [as the Inter boss is sometimes called] no longer being the president's 'flavour of the month'?

Will any or all of these three characters ever openly turn against Yanukovych? As always timing is everything...And as for Euro-integration...whatever the wishful thinkers say, this all hinges on the fate of Yulia T.

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