Viktor Yanukovych confidently took the lead in the Ukrainian presidential elections. The results from the January 17 first round elections showed Yanukovych with 35.32% of the vote and Tymoshenko with 25.05%.
Viktor Yanukovych confidently took the lead in the Ukrainian presidential elections. The results from the January 17 first round elections showed Yanukovych with 35.32% of the vote and Tymoshenko with 25.05%. ch
The leader of the Party of Regions has serious ambitions. He plans to stay in power for two five-year presidential terms.
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© RIA Novosti . Сергей Старостенко
Viktor Yanukovych’s rise in popularity was not hindered by two criminal convictions, which were later overturned. In 1967, as a 17-year-old youth, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for robbery. He served one year and seven months of the sentence and was released in a general amnesty for young offenders with short sentences on the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. In 1970, he was sentenced to two years in prison on battery charges. The case was dismissed in 1978 due to the lack of evidence.
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Today, presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych is an athlete…
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… and musician.
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Viktor Yanukovych has been a corporate leader for 28 years. He was the director general of the Donbasstransremont production association, Uglepromtrans production association and the Donetsk regional territorial automotive transport association. Even though he has occupied high political posts, he has descended into mines several times.
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On November 21, 2002, Yanukovych was appointed prime minister of Ukraine (Sergei Tigipko, Heorhiy Kirpa and Oleg Dubina were among the other possible candidates for the office).
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On April 20, 2003, he was elected chairman of the Party of Regions and was the party’s presidential candidate in 2004. In the first and second rounds of the 2004 presidential race, he placed first. After his defeat in the third presidential runoff, he resigned his chairmanship. On March 26, 2006, he was elected people’s deputy on the Party of Regions ticket and became the head of the party’s contingent in the Verkhovna Rada.
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As part of his election campaign, Viktor Yanukovych is proposing to make Russian the second official language in Ukraine.
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Yanukovych’s platform also includes establishing minimum pensions to meet the basic needs of every citizen – housing, food and medical care…
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and increasing the number of state scholarships in universities to 75%
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In his campaign program, Yanukovych is pledging a place in kindergarten
for every child.
for every child.
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Yanukovych promises that if he is elected president, he will build one million apartments in 10 years for youth, public sector employees, low-income families and people with disabilities.
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Viktor Yanukovych is a religious person, but he stands against state intervention in religious affairs.
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Viktor Yanukovych is married to Lyudmila who is a housewife.
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Yanukovych has two sons – Alexander, a dentist, and Viktor, Jr. – a people’s deputy of Ukraine (member of the Party of Regions in Rada).
On December 18, 2007, Yanukovych was relieved of duties as prime minister of Ukraine in connection with the appointment of the new prime minister – Yulia Tymoshenko. It is with Tymoshenko that Yanukovych will square off on February 7 in the second round of the Ukrainian presidential elections, when it will become clear who will govern Ukraine – a man or a woman.
