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| Yushchenko and Tymoshenko: political uncertainties might hold investors back |
Foreign investors say growing signs of division between president Viktor Yushchenko and prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko of Ukraine are causing concern. The president and his cabinet have seemed increasingly at odds over the past month, which investors identify as one of the main obstacles to increased investment in the country. Odeniyaz Dzharaparov, fund manager at hedge fund Griffin Capital Management, said on the sidelines of Renaissance Capital's Russia and Ukraine conference: "The economic situation is OK there. It's the political uncertainty that's holding investment back. People still have enthusiasm for the country after the Orange Revolution, but the enthusiasm is fading."
Tymoshenko and Yushchenko stood side by side in Kiev's Maidan Square as the two leaders of last December's Orange Revolution. They are the two most popular politicians in the country. There are signs, however, that their relationship is increasingly tense.
Boris Nemtsov, former deputy prime minister of Russia and an adviser to president Yushchenko, says: "They're like that American film where two people who hate each other are handcuffed together, so they have to work together.