Posted by Andrew K on February 26, 2001 at 11:00:03:
I think Kuchma now understands very well that he has been "made" by the Putin's special services. As a true coward and simply a weak person, he immediately agreed on "capitulation" in Dnipropetrovsk in order to save himself and his family.
All this seems very logical and easy to explain. What is hard to understand is why Ukrainian so called "oligarchs" decided to go with Kuchma instead of promptly removing this huge source of embarrassment. Right now their buisensses essentially face two options: (1) to be eaten by bigger Russian oligarchs with the help of Putin and Kuchma, and (2) to be investigated and taken away from them as Ukrainian politicians become more and more anti-Kuchma. Meanwhile, the gigantic scandal could very well mean the destiny of Pavlo Lazarenko for those of "oligarchs" who decide to flee from Ukraine.