In an abrupt move just days before the run-off presidential vote, President Leonid Kuchma on Nov. 10 dismissed his long-time ally from the post of national security chief and replaced him with his former election rival, Yevhen Marchuk.
The news came as a surprise to many, including the dismissed former National Seucrity Council Secretary Volodymyr Horbulin, who had served in this position since August 1996.
Horbulin was in charge of a number of issues regarding Ukraine's internal and external security, and was believed to de-facto control the State Security Service (SBU), the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry.
Kuchma spokesman Oleksandr Martynenko said the appointment of Marchuk was necessary since the administration was in need of a fresh look on security matters.
'When a man holds the same post for a long time, he loses the sharpness of perception on certain issues, so staff changes are needed to liven up the activity of the organization,' Martynenko told the Post.
The 60-year-old Horbulin, considered one of Kuchma's closest and oldest friends, was also one of the most influential people in his administration.
Martynenko said that Horbulin's 'immense' experience will be 'used on a different job, which will be announced later.'
Marchuk, 58, worked for 30 years at various positions in the former Soviet security service (the KGB) and then in its Ukrainian successor, the SBU.
He served as prime minister in Kuchma's government in 1995-96, but was fired to give way to the notorious Pavlo Lazarenko, who is currently being held in U.S. custody, pending extradition to Switzerland on money laundering charges.
Marchuk, who assumed an opposition stance after losing the prime minister's job, ran in the Oct. 31 presidential election, but finished only fourth with 8 percent of the vote.
Some analysts argued that Marchuk's latest appointment was engineered by the Kuchma administration in order to draw his voters to support Kuchma in the Nov. 14 vote, in which the incumbent will face Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko.
Kuchma overwhelmingly won the first round of balloting with 36.5 percent of the vote, while Symonenko came in second with 22.2 percent.
During his presidential campaign, Marchuk advertised himself as a 'strong-handed' man who is determined to root out corruption and organized crime. He garnered most of his support in western Ukraine, which also is Kuchma's turf.
Kuchma said during a trip to the town of Uman on Nov. 10 that Marchuk was experienced in national security issues and in combating corruption, and his skills would be an asset in the new job.
'The president also has ideas about fighting corruption and crime. Together we shall deal with this problem so that somebody's bones will crack,' Kuchma said.
While campaigning for presidency, Marchuk vehemently criticized Kuchma for contributing to unprecedented spread of corruption in the government during his first five-year term, and did not hesitate to expose Kuchma's close allies as also being corrupt.
Symonenko, meanwhile, blasted Marhcuk for a sudden switch of camps.
'He failed to fulfill what he promised to his voters and to the parties that supported him in the election,' Symonenko told a press conference Nov. 10. 'He was running as an opposition candidate, and now he's part of the government.'
Kuchma, however, said that it was enough for Marchuk not to be a Communist to be appointed to the new post.
'Marchuk did not want to build Communism, and this is the most important thing,' Kuchma said.
Marchuk's appointment recalled a move made by Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the 1996 election. Yeltsin named a top rival, Alexander Lebed, as national security chief ahead of a crucial run off against a Communist challenger, which eventually helped him win the election. Lebed, however, was dismissed shortly afterward.
Marchuk's press service did not have an immediate comment on their boss's new appointment.
