This is exactly the sort of behavior that Yushenko and Tymoshenko got up to when they were in control after the first “Orange Revolution”. And it is the main reason I regret now having favored that movement. Kuchma was not that bad after all. He just liked to kill a journalist every now and then. The economy under Kuchma was growing, and Ukraine had good relations with both the west and Russia.
Thump your liar....not all bad...maybe we should legalize that... :)
Kuchma was ruling from 1994 to 2005.
In 1994 the economy of Poland was about 2X as big as Ukraine’s. By 2005 it was more than 3.5X larger. Ukraine didn’t do well at all under Kuchma when compared to their neigbours.
Every leader in the office during the recent economic crises got a lot of flak, much of it undeserved, and often the opposition was voted in during the next cycle. USA got Obama, France got Hollande and Ukraine got Yanukovich.
In addition to stealing massive amounts Yanukovich also undid the most important victory of the Orange Revolution. He used legal tricks and corrupt judges to abolish the 2004 constitution and ruled under post-Soviet one giving the president way too much power.