Leonid Kuchma
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Leonid Kuchma
Леонід Кýчма |
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| In office July 19, 1994 – January 23, 2005 |
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| Prime Minister | Vitaliy Masol, Yevhen Marchuk, Pavlo Lazarenko, Vasyl Durdynets, Valeriy Pustovoitenko, Viktor Yushchenko, Anatoliy Kinakh, Viktor Yanukovych |
| Preceded by | Leonid Kravchuk |
| Succeeded by | Viktor Yushchenko |
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| In office October 13, 1992 – September 22, 1993 |
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| President | Leonid Kravchuk |
| Preceded by | Valentyn Symonenko |
| Succeeded by | Yukhym Zvyahilsky |
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| Born | August 9, 1938 Chaikyne, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine) |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Spouse | Ludmila Tumanova |
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Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (Ukrainian: Леонід Данилович Кýчма) (born August 9, 1938) was the second President of independent Ukraine from July 19, 1994, to January 23, 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival then-President Leonid Kravchuk. Kuchma won re-election for another 5-year term in 1999, staying in office until Viktor Yushchenko's inauguration in 2005.
Although his presidency has been surrounded by numerous corruption scandals and the lessening of media freedoms, under his watch the Ukrainian economy grew rapidly, bringing relative prosperity to the large city residents. During his presidency, Ukrainian-Russian ties began to improve.
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[edit] Early life
Kuchma was born in the village of Chaikyne in Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine (at the time part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic). His father had died in a battlefield during the World War II in 1944. Kuchma attended Dnipropetrovsk University and graduated with a degree in rocket engineering. He moved into senior management posts of the Yuzhmash industrial company in Dnipropetrovsk, eventually becoming its top executive, as well as in the Communist Party elite. As such, Kuchma played an important role in Soviet strategic missile and space rocket programs.
Some researchers believe that Kuchma's earlier career was significantly boosted by his marriage to Lyudmila Tumanova, the daughter of a local CPSU chief.
Kuchma was an amateur guitar player in his younger years. He was also known for his skill at the complicated card game preferans.
From 1990 to 1992 Kuchma was a member of the Ukrainian parliament (Committee on Defence and State Security), and became Prime Minister of Ukraine in 1992.
[edit] President (1994-2005)
Kuchma resigned from this position in September 1993 to successfully run for the presidency in 1994 on a platform to boost the economy by restoring economic relations with Russia and faster pro-market reforms. He was re-elected in 1999 to his second term.
[edit] Domestic Policy
In October 1994, Kuchma announced comprehensive economic reforms, including reduced subsidies, lifting of price controls, lower taxes, privatization of industry and agriculture, and reforms in currency regulation and banking. The parliament approved the plan's main points. The International Monetary Fund promised a $360 million loan to initiate reforms.
He was re-elected in 1999 to his second term. Opponents accused him of involvement in the killing in 2000 of journalist Georgiy Gongadze (see also SBU, "Cassette Scandal", Mykola Mel'nychenko), which he has always denied. They also blamed him for restrictions on press freedom. Kuchma is believed to have played a key role in sacking the Cabinet of Viktor Yushchenko by Verkhovna Rada on April 26, 2001.
Kuchma's Prime Minister from 2002 until early January 2005 was Viktor Yanukovych, after Kuchma dismissed Anatoliy Kinakh, his previous appointee.
[edit] Foreign Policy
Kuchma signed a "Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership" with Russia, and endorsed a round of talks with the CIS. Additionally, he referred to Russian as "an official language". He signed a special partnership agreement with NATO and even raised the possibility of membership of the alliance.
After Kuchma's popularity at home and abroad sank as he became mired in corruption scandals, he turned to Russia as his new ally, saying Ukraine needed a "multivector" foreign policy that balanced eastern and western interests.
[edit] Kuchma and the Cassette Scandal
In September 2000 journalist Georgiy R. Gongadze disappeared and his headless corpse was found on 3 November 2000. On 28 November, opposition politician Oleksandr Moroz publicised secret tape recordings implicating Kuchma in Gongadze's murder. In 2005 the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office instigated criminal proceedings against Kuchma and members of his former administration in connection with the murder of Gongadze.[1] It is rumored, however, that Kuchma had been unofficially granted immunity from prosecution in return for his graceful departure from office in 2005.[2]
[edit] Role in the 2004 crisis
Kuchma's role in the election's crisis of 2004 is not entirely clear. After the second round on November 22, 2004, it appeared that Yanukovych had won the election by fraud, which caused the opposition and independent observers to dispute the results, leading to the Orange Revolution.
Kuchma was urged by Yanukovych and Viktor Medvedchuk (the head of the presidential office) to declare a state of emergency and hold the inauguration of Yanukovych. He denied the request by admittedly stating in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he refused to pass the government into the hands of an alleged Donetsk criminal.[citation needed] Later, Yanukovych publicly accused Kuchma of a betrayal.
Nevertheless, Kuchma refused to officially dismiss Prime Minister Yanukovych after the parliament passed a motion of no confidence against the Cabinet on December 1, 2004.
Soon after, Kuchma left the country. He returned to Ukraine in March 2005.
[edit] Politicians closely associated with Kuchma
[edit] Aides and advisors that became public figures after or before
- Volodymyr Horbulin - personal friend, aide, later Head of the National Security and Defense Council
- Volodymyr Lytvyn - long-term first aide, later Head of Presidential Administration, then Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament)
- Viktor Medvedchuk - business oligarch, then First Vice Speaker of Verkhovna Rada, Head of Presidential Administration in 2001-2004
- Dmytro Tabachnyk - manager of the Kuchma's first successful election campaign, later Head of Presidential Administration, then Vice Prime Minister (in cabinet of Yanukovych)
[edit] Influential statesmen
- Leonid Derkach - personal friend, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine
- Yuri Kravchenko - Minister of Internal Affairs (police chief), committed suicide after the fall of Kuchma's regime
- Oleksandr Omelchenko - long-term governor and mayor of the capital city of Kiev
[edit] Business oligarchs and managers of important state-owned companies
- Ihor Bakai - business oligarch, later head of Naftogas of Ukraine national gas and oil company, then Head of the State Accommodation Department, escaped to Russia after the fall of Kuchma's regime, refusing to ever return permanently
- Heorhiy Kirpa - long-term head of the Ukrzaliznytsia national railways, then Minister of Transportation, committed suicide after the fall of Kuchma's regime
- Viktor Pinchuk - second son-in-law, business oligarch in control of several important media
[edit] Family
Kuchma's daughter Elena Franchuk founded the ANTIAIDS Foundation in 2003.[3] She is married to politician Viktor Pinchuk, a famous industrialist.[3] She is rumoured to have just bought the world's most expensive house, in London, for £80 million.[4][5]
[edit] Related Literature
- Sochor, Zenovia A. 1994. Political Culture and Foreign Policy: Elections in Ukraine 1994. Printed in: Tismăneanu, Vladmir (ed.). 1995. Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia. ISBN 1-56324-364-4. pp.208–224.
[edit] References
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2007) (Find sources: Leonid Kuchma – news, books, scholar) |
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Valentyn Symonenko |
Prime Minister of Ukraine 1992–1993 |
Succeeded by Yukhym Zvyahilsky |
| Preceded by Leonid Kravchuk |
President of Ukraine 1994–2005 |
Succeeded by Viktor Yushchenko |
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[edit] External links
- Yushchenko Won the Competition of Personalities (Kuchma's 2005 interview for Russian Vremia Novostey newspaper) (Russian)
