Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Encyclopedia
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian
politician, economist and lawyer. Yatsenyuk served in the government of Ukraine as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
(parliament) from 2007 to 2008.
, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (modern-day Ukraine). After he began studying at the Chernivtsi University
in 1992, Yatsenyuk set up a student law firm
. He graduated from the university in 1996, and later attended the Chernivtsi Trade-Economics Institute of the Kiev
National Trade-Economics Institute in 2001.
From December 1992 to September 1997 he was the president of "Yurek Ltd." law firm
, based in Chernivtsi
. From January 1998 until September 2001, Yatsenyuk worked in the postal and pension "Aval" bank, based in Kiev
.
, and from November of the same year until January 2003, served as the official Minister of Economy of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
From November 2003 to February 2005, Yatsenyuk served as the first vice-president of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine
under Serhiy Tyhypko. After Tyhypko left the National Bank, Arseniy Yatsenyuk was put in charge of the National Bank.
After Vasyl Tsushko
was appointed as the new Governor of Odessa Oblast
, Tsushko asked Yatsenyuk to serve as his vice-governor, which he served from March 9 to September 2005. From September 27, 2005 to August 4, 2006, he served as the Minister of Economy of Ukraine in the Yuriy Yekhanurov
-led government. Arseniy Yatsenyuk then headed talks about Ukrainian membership in the World Trade Organization
. Yatsenyuk also heads the Ukraine-European Union
commission.
From September 20, 2006, he served as the first vice-president of the Head of Government of the President of Ukraine
, and the representative of the president in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk was proposed for the post of Foreign Minister by the President of Ukraine
, Viktor Yushchenko
. Yatsenyuk was chosen for the post by the Verkhovna Rada
(parliament) on March 21, 2007 with 426 votes (from 450 maximum), but only after the Ukrainian parliament twice denied the post to Volodymyr Ohryzko.
from Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (number 3 in the bloc's member list). On December 3, 2007, he was nominated for the position of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
from the democratic coalition formed from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc. On December 4, 2007, Yatsenyuk was elected the Chairman of the Parliament. His candidacy was the only in the ballot, and he obtained 227 votes in favor (from the democratic coalition; opposition abstained from the voting).
During the Ukrainian political crises of September 2008
Yatsenyuk offered his resignation on September 17, 2008. A vote on his dismissal on November 11, 2008, was declared invalid by the counting commission of the Parliament (the vote was proposed by opposition party Party of Regions
).
On November 12, a total of 233 of 226 required deputies satisfied the resignation statement of Yatsenyuk and thus dismissed him from his post of Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. The voting was carried out through the parliaments voting system and not by means of secret ballots, as stipulated by the parliamentary regulations. After his dismissal Yatsenyuk told journalists that he will form a new political force "for change in the country."
On November 21, 2008 Arseniy Yatsenyuk was also dismissed by President
Viktor Yushchenko
from the National Security and Defense Council
.
of February 4, 2009 he claimed to have no allies among the current politicians. He has often been referred to as a political clone lacking differentiating policies of Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko
. According to polls held in the last months of 2008 a political party led by Arseniy Yatsenyuk would pass the 3 percent election threshold
in the next Ukrainian parliamentary election
.
On April 5, 2009, Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his candidacy for President of Ukraine
in the next presidential election. During the election campaign fellow candidate Serhiy Ratushniak
repeatedly insulted Yatsenyuk because of his alleged Jewish roots, among others Ratushniak called Yatsenyuk an "impudent little Jew" who was "successfully serving the thieves who are in power in Ukraine and is using criminal money to plough ahead towards Ukraine's presidency".
Yatsenyuk's presidential campaign was estimated to cost about $60–$70 million. When Yatsenyuk billboards first appeared around Ukraine at the end of June 2009, Yatseniuk was depicted as a military-style leader, while his previous image was that of a "young liberal". Some analysts think that this did not help the campaign. On January 13, 2010 Yatseniuk stated that his election campaign had cost 80 million Hryvnia and that "The number of my advertising posters is ten times less than that of all of my political opponents"; Yatseniuk claimed that funds from his election budget were mainly spent on his appearances on television.
After the elections Yatsenyuk wanted to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada
because in his view the parliament would prevent him from working. He also stated in November 2009 that Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko and Party of Regions
were "almost a single whole".
In late November 2009, he stated he was not interested in "using his votes as bargaining material" for a high political post.
: Sergey Tigipko, Yatsenyuk and Party of Regions
lawmaker Mykola Azarov
. But Yatsenyuk declined this proposal to hold a high post in the new cabinet after the Ukrainian parliament adopted an amendment on March 9, 2010 which enabled independent lawmakers to take part in forming a majority coalition, instead of only parliamentary factions; Yatsenyuk disapproved of this amendment. Instead he called for early parliamentary elections
: "Unconstitutional attempts by parliamentarians to form a coalition and a government would deepen the political crisis and the crisis of statehood as such". To be premier in a coalition with communists
was unacceptable for Yatsenyuk. Yatsenyuk formed an oppositional government in March 2010, next to another oppositional government headed by Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko, opposing the Azarov Government
. In April 2010 Yatsenyuk was officially chosen as party leader of Front for Change; by that time the public initiative had become a political party also.
).
Yatsenyuk also has a sister Alina Petrivna Jones (according to other sources – Steel, born 1967), residing in the city of Santa Barbara, California
United States.
Yatsenyuk's wife is Tereza Viktorivna (b. 1970), they also have two daughters named Khrystyna and Sofiya.
Tereza Yatsenyuk was born into a family of philosophers. Her father, Viktor Illarionovych Gur, works as a professor of philosophy at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute
, her mother Svitlana Mykytivna – PhD, now retired. Yatsenyuk's family lives near Kiev (the village of Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshhorod Raion) since 2003, where he owns a two-storeyed house with an outdoor swimming pool, near the country house belonging to Viktor Yanukovych
.
Yatseniuk stated that in its relations with the European Union
, Ukraine should have a visa-free regime with EU countries.
Yatseniuk is against privatization of state property and wants to simplify the civil service. Yatseniuk has stated in November 2009 that the question of the Russia
n Black Sea Fleet
's withdrawal (then lease was originally supposed to end in 2017) from Ukraine is not currently on the agenda, and the question should be discussed in 2016. Yatseniuk was against the April 21, 2010 agreement
in which the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea would be extended beyond 2017 by 25 years with an additional five-year renewal option (to 2042–47) in exchange for a multiyear discounted contract to provide Ukraine with Russian natural gas. Yatseniuk favours the creation of a special "vice prime minister for Crimea
n issues"-post.
In November 2009 Yatsenyuk stated that Ukraine's shadow economy "is a part of the current political system in Ukraine and that's why taking business out of the shadows will only be possible via a change in this system". In November 2009 he saw as his most difficult task if elected President "to break the political clan system that has been built up over the last 18 years". Yatsenyuk wants to create a common energy company with European Union
countries and Russia.
According to Yatsenyuk it will be impossible to fight corruption without changing the country's system of government, "The system of government in Ukraine has in fact remained the same as it was under the Soviet Union
".
Late July 2010 Yatsenyuk wrote a draft law which proposed to fine officials for violating the law "On Appeals by Citizens", thus holding officials personally accountable for ignoring the complaints of citizens.
In November 2009 he proposed that a referendum be held on if Ukraine should have an open list
voting system. Yatseniuk is in favour of holding referenda, he calls this "nationalization of state power". The amendment of the terms and conditions of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's presence in Ukraine and a decision on Ukraine's membership of NATO and other military alliances are according to Yatsenyuk only possible through a referendum.
Yatseniuk is against the participation of Ukrainian troops in peacekeeping operations abroad.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
politician, economist and lawyer. Yatsenyuk served in the government of Ukraine as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The speaker presides over the parliament and its procedures. They are elected by secret ballot from the parliament's deputy ranks...
(parliament) from 2007 to 2008.
Early life
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk was born on May 22, 1974 into a Jewish family in ChernivtsiChernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (modern-day Ukraine). After he began studying at the Chernivtsi University
Chernivtsi University
The Chernivtsi National University is the leading Ukrainian institution for higher education in northern Bukovina, in Chernivtsi, a city in southwest Ukraine....
in 1992, Yatsenyuk set up a student law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
. He graduated from the university in 1996, and later attended the Chernivtsi Trade-Economics Institute of the Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
National Trade-Economics Institute in 2001.
From December 1992 to September 1997 he was the president of "Yurek Ltd." law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
, based in Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
. From January 1998 until September 2001, Yatsenyuk worked in the postal and pension "Aval" bank, based in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
.
Political career
From September until November 2001, Arseniy served as an "acting" Minister of Economy of CrimeaCrimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, and from November of the same year until January 2003, served as the official Minister of Economy of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
From November 2003 to February 2005, Yatsenyuk served as the first vice-president of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine
National Bank of Ukraine
National Bank of Ukraine is the central bank of Ukraine. Its headquarters building, constructed between 1902 and 1934, is located at no. 9 Institutska St., in Kiev-History:...
under Serhiy Tyhypko. After Tyhypko left the National Bank, Arseniy Yatsenyuk was put in charge of the National Bank.
After Vasyl Tsushko
Vasyl Tsushko
Vasyl Petrovych Tsushko is a Ukrainian politician former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, appointed on quote of the Communist Party, and former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine....
was appointed as the new Governor of Odessa Oblast
Odessa Oblast
Odesa Oblast, also written as Odessa Oblast , is the southernmost and largest oblast of south-western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Odessa.-History:...
, Tsushko asked Yatsenyuk to serve as his vice-governor, which he served from March 9 to September 2005. From September 27, 2005 to August 4, 2006, he served as the Minister of Economy of Ukraine in the Yuriy Yekhanurov
Yuriy Yekhanurov
Yuriy Ivanovych Yekhanurov is a Ukrainian politician who was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2005 to 2006 and Minister of Defense in from 2007 to 2009...
-led government. Arseniy Yatsenyuk then headed talks about Ukrainian membership in the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
. Yatsenyuk also heads the Ukraine-European Union
Ukraine and the European Union
Relations between Ukraine and the European Union are currently shaped via the European Neighbourhood Policy , a foreign policy instrument of the EU designed for the countries it borders....
commission.
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
, and the representative of the president in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ukraine is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine also referred to as the Government of Ukraine...
.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk was proposed for the post of Foreign Minister by the President of Ukraine
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
, Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
. Yatsenyuk was chosen for the post by the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
(parliament) on March 21, 2007 with 426 votes (from 450 maximum), but only after the Ukrainian parliament twice denied the post to Volodymyr Ohryzko.
Speaker of the Parliament
In the early parliamentary elections held on September 30, 2007, Yatsenyuk was elected to the parliamentUkrainian parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt...
from Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (number 3 in the bloc's member list). On December 3, 2007, he was nominated for the position of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The speaker presides over the parliament and its procedures. They are elected by secret ballot from the parliament's deputy ranks...
from the democratic coalition formed from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc. On December 4, 2007, Yatsenyuk was elected the Chairman of the Parliament. His candidacy was the only in the ballot, and he obtained 227 votes in favor (from the democratic coalition; opposition abstained from the voting).
During the Ukrainian political crises of September 2008
2008 Ukrainian political crisis
The 2008 Ukrainian political crisis started after President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc withdrew from the governing coalition following a vote on a bill to limit the President's powers in which the Prime Minister's Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko voted with the opposition...
Yatsenyuk offered his resignation on September 17, 2008. A vote on his dismissal on November 11, 2008, was declared invalid by the counting commission of the Parliament (the vote was proposed by opposition party Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
).
On November 12, a total of 233 of 226 required deputies satisfied the resignation statement of Yatsenyuk and thus dismissed him from his post of Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. The voting was carried out through the parliaments voting system and not by means of secret ballots, as stipulated by the parliamentary regulations. After his dismissal Yatsenyuk told journalists that he will form a new political force "for change in the country."
On November 21, 2008 Arseniy Yatsenyuk was also dismissed by President
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
from the National Security and Defense Council
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine , locally referred by its abbreviation RNBO, is an organizational state body in Ukraine tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters in advising the President of Ukraine .The Council was originally created in...
.
2010 presidential election
On December 16, 2008, Yatsenyuk announced plans to create a political party on basis of the Front of Changes public initiative. In an interview with DenDen (newspaper)
Den is a Kiev-based, centrist daily boardsheet newspaper. Founded in 1996, the paper has a circulation of about 60,000. It is linked to former prime minister Yevhen Marchuk - his wife Larysa Ivshyna is the paper's editor-in-chief...
of February 4, 2009 he claimed to have no allies among the current politicians. He has often been referred to as a political clone lacking differentiating policies of Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
. According to polls held in the last months of 2008 a political party led by Arseniy Yatsenyuk would pass the 3 percent election threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
in the next Ukrainian parliamentary election
Next Ukrainian parliamentary election
On February 1, 2011 the Verkhovna Rada set the election date for the next Ukrainian parliamentary election for October 28, 2012. The elections will use a mixed voting system with a 5% election threshold and the participation of blocs of political parties will not be allowed anymore...
.
On April 5, 2009, Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his candidacy for President of Ukraine
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
in the next presidential election. During the election campaign fellow candidate Serhiy Ratushniak
Serhiy Ratushniak
Serhiy Mykolayovych Ratushnyak is a former Mayor of Uzhhorod and was a self-nominated candidate in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election. During the election Ratushnyak received 0,12% of the votes.-Biography:Ratushniak was born in Uzhgorod, Ukrainian SSR...
repeatedly insulted Yatsenyuk because of his alleged Jewish roots, among others Ratushniak called Yatsenyuk an "impudent little Jew" who was "successfully serving the thieves who are in power in Ukraine and is using criminal money to plough ahead towards Ukraine's presidency".
Yatsenyuk's presidential campaign was estimated to cost about $60–$70 million. When Yatsenyuk billboards first appeared around Ukraine at the end of June 2009, Yatseniuk was depicted as a military-style leader, while his previous image was that of a "young liberal". Some analysts think that this did not help the campaign. On January 13, 2010 Yatseniuk stated that his election campaign had cost 80 million Hryvnia and that "The number of my advertising posters is ten times less than that of all of my political opponents"; Yatseniuk claimed that funds from his election budget were mainly spent on his appearances on television.
After the elections Yatsenyuk wanted to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
because in his view the parliament would prevent him from working. He also stated in November 2009 that Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko and Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
were "almost a single whole".
In late November 2009, he stated he was not interested in "using his votes as bargaining material" for a high political post.
Political career after the 2010 presidential election
On February 21, 2010 President Yanukovych offered three candidates for Prime Minister of UkrainePrime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
: Sergey Tigipko, Yatsenyuk and Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
lawmaker Mykola Azarov
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
. But Yatsenyuk declined this proposal to hold a high post in the new cabinet after the Ukrainian parliament adopted an amendment on March 9, 2010 which enabled independent lawmakers to take part in forming a majority coalition, instead of only parliamentary factions; Yatsenyuk disapproved of this amendment. Instead he called for early parliamentary elections
Next Ukrainian parliamentary election
On February 1, 2011 the Verkhovna Rada set the election date for the next Ukrainian parliamentary election for October 28, 2012. The elections will use a mixed voting system with a 5% election threshold and the participation of blocs of political parties will not be allowed anymore...
: "Unconstitutional attempts by parliamentarians to form a coalition and a government would deepen the political crisis and the crisis of statehood as such". To be premier in a coalition with communists
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
was unacceptable for Yatsenyuk. Yatsenyuk formed an oppositional government in March 2010, next to another oppositional government headed by Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko, opposing the Azarov Government
Azarov Government
The first Azarov Government was appointed on March 11, 2010 as part of the "Stability and Reform" coalition between the Party of Regions, Lytvyn Bloc and the Communist Party of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament...
. In April 2010 Yatsenyuk was officially chosen as party leader of Front for Change; by that time the public initiative had become a political party also.
Family
Currently, Arseny Yatsenyuk's father Petro Yatsenyuk works as a deputy dean of the Historical Faculty at the Chernivtsi National University, and his mother, Mariya Yatsenyuk, is a French teacher at one of the Chernivtsi high schools (according to other sources – also at the Chernivtsi UniversityChernivtsi University
The Chernivtsi National University is the leading Ukrainian institution for higher education in northern Bukovina, in Chernivtsi, a city in southwest Ukraine....
).
Yatsenyuk also has a sister Alina Petrivna Jones (according to other sources – Steel, born 1967), residing in the city of Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
United States.
Yatsenyuk's wife is Tereza Viktorivna (b. 1970), they also have two daughters named Khrystyna and Sofiya.
Tereza Yatsenyuk was born into a family of philosophers. Her father, Viktor Illarionovych Gur, works as a professor of philosophy at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute
Kiev Polytechnic Institute
The National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” is a major university in Kiev, Ukraine.-History:The institute was founded in 1898. At that time it had four departments: Mechanical, Chemical, Agricultural, and Civil Engineering. The first enrolment constituted 360 students...
, her mother Svitlana Mykytivna – PhD, now retired. Yatsenyuk's family lives near Kiev (the village of Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshhorod Raion) since 2003, where he owns a two-storeyed house with an outdoor swimming pool, near the country house belonging to Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
.
Political positions
Yatseniuk does not want Russian to become the second state language in Ukraine.Yatseniuk stated that in its relations with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, Ukraine should have a visa-free regime with EU countries.
Yatseniuk is against privatization of state property and wants to simplify the civil service. Yatseniuk has stated in November 2009 that the question of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
's withdrawal (then lease was originally supposed to end in 2017) from Ukraine is not currently on the agenda, and the question should be discussed in 2016. Yatseniuk was against the April 21, 2010 agreement
2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty
The Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas treaty, widely referred to as the Kharkiv Accords or the Kharkiv Pact in the Russian and Ukrainian media, is a treaty between Ukraine and Russia whereby the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea would be extended beyond 2017 by 25 years with an...
in which the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea would be extended beyond 2017 by 25 years with an additional five-year renewal option (to 2042–47) in exchange for a multiyear discounted contract to provide Ukraine with Russian natural gas. Yatseniuk favours the creation of a special "vice prime minister for Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
n issues"-post.
In November 2009 Yatsenyuk stated that Ukraine's shadow economy "is a part of the current political system in Ukraine and that's why taking business out of the shadows will only be possible via a change in this system". In November 2009 he saw as his most difficult task if elected President "to break the political clan system that has been built up over the last 18 years". Yatsenyuk wants to create a common energy company with European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
countries and Russia.
According to Yatsenyuk it will be impossible to fight corruption without changing the country's system of government, "The system of government in Ukraine has in fact remained the same as it was under the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
".
Late July 2010 Yatsenyuk wrote a draft law which proposed to fine officials for violating the law "On Appeals by Citizens", thus holding officials personally accountable for ignoring the complaints of citizens.
In November 2009 he proposed that a referendum be held on if Ukraine should have an open list
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
voting system. Yatseniuk is in favour of holding referenda, he calls this "nationalization of state power". The amendment of the terms and conditions of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's presence in Ukraine and a decision on Ukraine's membership of NATO and other military alliances are according to Yatsenyuk only possible through a referendum.
Yatseniuk is against the participation of Ukrainian troops in peacekeeping operations abroad.