Kuchma Leonid Danylovych
Politician
Prime Minister under Kuchma, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council under Yushchenko, and Minister of Economy under Yanukovych
Anatoliy Kinakh is one of the most opportunistic Ukrainian politicians, who consistently served Kuchma, Yushchenko, and Yanukovych depending on the political situation. He graduated from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute (1978). He was a People's Deputy in the I, III, IV, V, VI, and VII convocations. Prime Minister from 2001 to 2002. First Vice Prime Minister in 1999 and 2005. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council in 2005–2006. Minister of Economy in 2007.
The "Defector" of 2007 and the parliamentary crisis
In 2007, Kinakh became one of the key figures in the scandal that triggered the parliamentary crisis: along with other deputies, he switched from the "Our Ukraine" faction to the Party of Regions. Immediately after this, Yanukovych appointed him Minister of Economy. The ensuing crisis led to Yushchenko dissolving the Parliament. A man who had positioned himself as an "Orange" leader and even headed the strike committee during the Maidan, went to Yanukovych for a position.
Scandals involving privatization and lobbying
During his years as Prime Minister and minister, Kinakh repeatedly faced accusations of lobbying for industrial groups and privatization schemes benefiting structures close to the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (USPP).