Yanukovych names Prime Minister candidates

In a televised interview yesterday, President-elect Viktor Yanukovych named three candidates for the post of Prime Minister: Sergiy Tigipko, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Mykola Azarov. Yanukovych said active negotiations on forming a new coalition would begin this week and noted that talks were underway with all factions in the current parliament. Brad Wells: The name of names ahead of inauguration is a surprise move, especially the surfacing of Tigipko’s candidacy, who said as late as last week that he had not talked with Yanukovych about the position. We view the announcement as a potential signal that new coalition talks are closer to fruition than earlier believed. While various Party of Regions parliamentary deputies have been saying since the runoff vote that a new coalition was imminent, their new two week horizon mentioned over the weekend now seems more believable.