Yushchenko and Yanukovych sign secret deal

According to the former head of a department of the Presidential Secretariat Yaroslav Kozachok, President Viktor Yushchenko and Party of Regions Leader Viktor Yanukovych have signed a confidential agreement on cooperation during the presidential election campaign.

"It's no secret that relations between the Party of Regions and Presidential Secretariat are developing actively, as evidenced by regular visits to the Presidential Secretariat by the Party of Regions leadership. I want to note that the final straw that prompted me to act decisively was the document that I saw – a confidential agreement between Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko, in which they agreed to collaborate during the elections and the political future," Yaroslav Kozachok said today during a press conference.

According to him, the agreement stipulates that Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych agree to abstain from mutual criticism and use all available means to support the Party of Regions leader in the second round. "They also ensure that Viktor Yushchenko will be nominated for prime minister and his candidacy will be supported by the parliamentary majority," Yaroslav Kozachok said.

He said that after seeing the document he submitted his resignation and it was accepted. "As of today I am no longer a civil servant and department head of the Presidential Secretariat. This was a difficult decision to make, but there are things that stand higher than personal interests," he said.

Yaroslav Kozachok believes that Viktor Yushchenko and his Secretariat deliberately blocked government decisions, necessary laws and acts, including changes to the Budget Code, the law on combating money laundering, the financing of health care, decisions on privatization and the creation of the State Migration Service. "All this shows that the political battle with one’s opponents are put above the interests of the state. And the struggle against a political rival is turning into a struggle against one’s own country," he believes