Parliament OKs Ukraine Leader’s Ally as Premier

Parliament confirmed one of President Leonid D. Kuchma’s closest allies, Valery Pustovoitenko, as prime minister Wednesday, marking the seventh change of government since this former Soviet republic declared independence nearly six years ago.

Pustovoitenko, who supports private enterprise, lower taxes and paying overdue state wages that now total $2.1 billion, was approved by a vote of 226 to 91.

Pushing the necessary programs through the conservative parliament may prove difficult for the new prime minister, analysts said. The 226 votes he won were the absolute minimum necessary for confirmation in the 450-member body. “His support in parliament is very shallow. He’ll be completely dependent on Kuchma,” said former lawmaker Ihor Dercacz.

A minister without portfolio for three years, Pustovoitenko, 50, is highly regarded for his government experience. He served as chief executive of the city of Dnipropetrovsk and managed the presidential campaign that brought Kuchma to office in 1994. He also is head of Ukraine’s soccer federation.

Some analysts have criticized him, though, for being a practitioner of old, Soviet-era administrative methods.

In any case, his predecessor, Pavlo Lazarenko, who resigned two weeks ago, left him with a daunting challenge. Most private businesses still avoid excessive taxes by hiding in the shadow economy. The value of the national economy shrank by 4.5% in the first half of 1997, compared with 3.1% over the same period last year, according to official figures.

The International Monetary Fund has held off granting Kiev a credit of as much as $3 billion until it sees more progress on economic reforms.

Lazarenko’s political independence makes him a likely contender in presidential elections in 1999, but his government was plagued by allegations of corruption. Foreign investors especially complained about the increased difficulties of doing business after he took office.