Yushchenko Certain Victor in Ukraine Election
West-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko looked certain Monday to become Ukraine’s next president, bringing with him a promise to end rampant graft and to reform the ex-Soviet state’s damaged economy.
Yushchenko wants to align Ukraine, its economic potential squandered by years of mismanagement, with the West, fanning concerns in Russia that it will lose influence over a region where it has held sway for 300 years.
When Mr. Yushchenko takes the seat of power, at his side will be a tough minded, savvy American-raised businesswoman. Mrs. Yushchenko, who was raised in suburban Chicago, and in the late 1980s and early 1990s worked in the human rights office of the U.S. State Department. She also worked for the first President Bush in the Treasury Department.