The shadow government of Viktor Yanukovych was formed on 21 December 2007 as a result of the formation of the second Tymoshenko government, following the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election.
Background Shadow governments are not officialised in Ukraine, nor do they hold any real power and significance. However, a few of them have been formed or tried to be formed before: Yulia Tymoshenko has previously led an opposition shadow government of the Hromada party in 1998, Our Ukraine had proposed to form shadow governments twice: in 2002 and 2006.
By the 2007, when after a long-lasting political crisis, which led to the snap 2007 parliamentary election, the "orange coalition" blocs, BYuT and NUNS, agreed to form a coalition government, largest opposition party in the Verkhovna Rada, Party of Regions, pledged to form a shadow cabinet, if party becomes the opposition. Despite Yanukovych's wishes to form a "united opposition government", other two opposition factions, Lytvyn Bloc and Communist Party of Ukraine stated that they would not join the shadow cabinet.
On 21 December 2007, the shadow cabinet of Viktor Yanukovych gathered for their first meeting in the former headquarters of Yanukovych's presidential campaign team, the Zoryanyi cinema building. Later that day, PR representative, Serhiy Lyovochkin refused to call the cabinet a "shadow" one, and preferred for it to be called "an opposition cabinet". Lyovochkin also added that there would be vacant positions inside the cabinet, like the culture and health ministries, which are available for the other opposition parties, in case of the opposition coalition expansion.
Composition The shadow cabinet is composed of the shadow prime minister, 20 ministers, and four other members without portfolio (National Bank governor, heads of the Security Service, the State Tax Administration and the State Customs Service). PortfolioNamePartyTook officeLeft officeShadow Prime MinisterViktor YanukovychPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Finance Mykola AzarovPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of EconomyIryna AkimovaPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of DefenseOleksandr KuzmukPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Internal AffairsMykola DzhyhaPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Fuel and EnergyYuriy BoykoPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Coal IndustrySerhiy TulubPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Ministry of Transport and CommunicationVolodymyr KozakPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Labour and Social PolicyMykhailo PapiyevPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Education and ScienceDmytro TabachnykPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Foreign AffairsKostyantyn HryshchenkoPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of JusticeOleksandr LavrynovychPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Environmental ProtectionAnatoliy TolstoukhovPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Agrarian PolicyViktor SlautaPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Public Housing and UtilitiesOleksandr PopovPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Family, Youth, and Sports AffairsViktor KorzhPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of IndustryAnatoliy KinakhPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Emergency SituationsNestor ShufrychPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of Building and Regional DevelopmentVolodymyr YatsubaPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Minister of HealthVacant (reserved for other opposition parties)Shadow Minister of Culture and TourismVacant (reserved for other opposition parties)Members without portfolioShadow Governor of the National Bank of UkraineSerhiy LyovochkinPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Head of the State Tax AdministrationInna BohoslovskaPR21 December 200725 February 2010Shadow Head of the Security Service of UkraineVacant (reserved for other opposition parties)Shadow Head of the State Customs ServiceVacant (reserved for other opposition parties)
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