Businessman Sergey Tigipko, courted by the two candidates in Ukraine's presidential election, signalled onJan. 27he might more comfortably serve as premier under opposition leader Victor Yanukovych than his rival.
In an interview with Reuters earlier this week, Tigipko showed himself to be closer to Yanukovich than Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on some policies, most notably the ailing gas sector for which he backs the sale of some assets to the European Union and Russia.
Yanukovych, former prime minister and now opposition leader, led in the first round of voting earlier this month with 35 percent and faces Tymoshenko, who trailed him 10 percentage points, in a decisive Feb. 7 vote. Both have tried to woo Tigipko, a millionaire who has returned to politics only in the past year to gain a strong third position in the first round and whose voters are now key for a decisive victory for either.
Tymoshenko has offered him the top post in a new government several times. He has hedged his bets, answering he would back neither, accusing them of naked populism, but could serve either after the election if they backed his "unpopular" reforms.
"We haven’t finished talks with Victor Fedorovych (Yanukovych) and as yet I haven’t received such an offer from him," Tigipko was cited by Interfax Ukraine as saying.
He said he would soon meet Yanukovych again to hear his strategy and to "cross the t’s" on their talks. As for Tymoshenko’s latest offer of the prime minister’s post, he said "It’s obvious that Tymoshenko’s team would like to receive extra support, but I have said, this will not happen, there will be no support (from me)".
But on many economic issues, Yanukovych and Tymoshenko are broadly similar — both have talked of strengthening the social safety net while cutting taxes and implementing reforms to attract investment.
Analysts have said Tigipko is unlikely to lend direct support to either candidate as he has said he is willing to serve as prime minister under both.
