The Yatsenyuk government took office in the wake of the anti-government Euromaidan protests that began in 2013 and culminated in the 22 February 2014 dismissal of President Viktor Yanukovych.[4] The government was first presented at Kyiv's main Euromaidan protest camp at Maidan Nezalezhnosti on 26 February 2014.[5] The Verkhovna Rada then voted on the government on 27 February 2014.[6][7] There were no government posts for the UDAR party, led by one of the Euromaidan leaders, Vitali Klitschko.[8][9] UDAR declined offers to participate in the new government.[10]
On 1 March 2014, the Ministry of Revenues and Duties was liquidated.[18] Its agencies were transferred to the Ministry of Finance. On 23 March 2014, the Ministry of Industrial Policy was merged with the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
On 24 July 2014, the coalition supporting the Yatsenyuk government collapsed[1] after UDAR and Svoboda announced that they had left the coalition to pave the way for early parliamentary elections.[21] UDAR faction leader Vitaliy Kovalchuk explained his party's actions with his observation that "the Verkhovna Rada is not set for constructive work in accordance with the will of the Ukrainian people".[21] In addition, 15 independent deputies and eight Batkivschyna deputies also quit the coalition,[21] soon followed by four more independent deputies.[1] Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation in the late afternoon on 24 July 2014.[2] During his announcement of resignation in parliament Yatsenyuk hinted that the coalition had collapsed because politicians did not want to be seen involved in making budget cuts and had thus placed "political interest above the fate of the country"; according to him, this was "a moral and an ethical crime".[22] Yatsenyuk's resignation had to be officially accepted by the parliament and it did not do this the next day; parliament's next chance to accept his resignation would be at its following session on 31 July 2014.[23][24]
UDAR faction leader Vitaliy Kovalchuk stated that since Yatsenyuk had not written a letter of resignation ("and in accordance with the Constitution, Yatsenyuk had to file the verbal statement"), parliament could not accept his resignation; Kovalchuk argued that hence Yatsenyuk was still Prime Minister.[25] Nevertheless, (also on 25 June 2014) the Yatsenyuk government appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Regional Policy – Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of UkraineVolodymyr Groysman as its acting Prime Minister.[26] In the evening of 25 July, the parliamentary press service stated that the body had "received the statement of the Prime Minister of Ukraine of his resignation".[27] The Verkhovna Rada declined his resignation on 31 July 2014, with only 16 out of 450 MPs voted for his resignation.[3]
Policy
In March 2014, the government stated that it did not intend to make Ukraine a member of NATO.[28]
In early August 2014, the Yatsenyuk government introduced draft tax reform legislation that would reduce the number of taxes and fees from 22 to 9.[29]
A few days later, the United States Secretary of StateJohn Kerry visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on 4 March 2014 and met with Yatsenyuk. He was followed by members of the European Union[who?], who met with members of his government prior to a EU summit on 6 March 2014.[44][45][46]
Russia, however, denounced the events that led to the previous government's ouster as an illegitimate coup and considered the Yatsenyuk government illegitimate.[a][b][c][d]
Notes
^Gumuchian; Morgan; Chance (2014) "Moscow has denounced the events that led to Yanukovych's ouster as an illegitimate coup and has refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, putting the two countries on a collision course over control of Crimea, which has longstanding ties to Russia and has thousands of Russian troops stationed there."[47]
^Dawber (2014) "Vladimir Putin has given a confident performance in front of the media, insisting that the events of the last 10 days in Ukraine amounted to nothing less than a coup d'état."[48]
^The Washington Post (2014) "[Putin says:] Are the current authorities legitimate? The Parliament is partially, but all the others are not. The current Acting President is definitely not legitimate. There is only one legitimate President, from a legal standpoint. Clearly, he has no power. However, as I have already said, and will repeat: Yanukovych is the only undoubtedly legitimate President."[49]
^BBC News (2014) "But Crimea's First Deputy PM Rustam Temirgaliev dismissed the suggestion, saying Crimea views the new authorities in Kiev as illegitimate."[50]
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