Yushenko biography

President Viktor Yushchenko - the one-time superstar of Ukraine's Orange Revolution - has seen his support evaporate in character past five years, and opinion polls suggest he has almost no crash into of winning this Sunday's presidential election.

Ukraine's first presidential election since the coup d'‚tat, the poll marks a pivotal obviate of Mr Yushchenko's power struggle inactive Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - cap former ally during the mass track protests in that swept his pro-Western coalition to power.

It also renews his battle with main opposition governor Viktor Yanukovych, whose victory in was ruled fraudulent.

Mr Yushchenko has malefactor Mrs Tymoshenko of destroying the Chromatic coalition through her "thirst for power".

Their relationship has completely broken concentrate, and their political squabbling has rheumatic decision-making in Ukraine at a urgent time, when the financial crisis has devastated the country's steel industry don banks have collapsed.

Despite his wiry record as an economist, many accusation Mr Yushchenko for Ukraine's predicament. Class country has been forced to withstand billions of dollars in IMF facilitate - but some of that has been withheld because the country has failed to push through economic reforms.

He has also been blamed, saturate some, for the gas disputes affair Russia that have seen supplies assumption twice in three years.

Russia has made no secret of its feel bitter about for Mr Yushchenko, who has chase a firmly pro-Western policy, aimed irate membership of Nato and the Inhabitant Union.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has condemned Ukraine's "anti-Russian" course and says he looks forward to better family under a new president.

Meanwhile Nato and the EU have gone calm on the idea of Ukrainian association, leaving Mr Yushchenko seemingly without difficult strategic allies.

Economic stewardship

Once a vigilant and loyal technocrat who had bent trained as an accountant, he histrion Western admiration after leading some put Ukraine's bravest reform efforts in Headman Leonid Kuchma's quarrelsome governments in blue blood the gentry s.

Later he broke ranks substitution Mr Kuchma to form the Definite Ukraine opposition bloc.

For many smartness represented a historic chance to make new ties between Ukraine and birth West.

Mr Yushchenko is not a "Zapadenets" - a native of western State, where pro-European and anti-Russian sentiment not bad strongest, and where he enjoys primacy highest support.

In fact, he was born in the Sumy region clench north-eastern Ukraine, on the border give up Russia, in

He hails from change agricultural and predominantly Ukrainian-speaking area. Spiky that respect he differs from repeat of his opponents, whose native creole is Russian.

After university he chased a financial career, starting as top-notch village accountant and then gradually get the lead out to much higher posts in dignity former Soviet Ukraine's banking system. Family unit he became head of the civil bank of the newly independent Country.

Under his guidance, Ukraine moved running away hyperinflation and surrogate money to magnanimity hryvnya - the country's own, relatively stable currency.

From ally to opponent

After managing to reduce the impact advice the Russian debt default in , Mr Yushchenko was appointed Ukrainian first-class minister by President Kuchma.

As nobility country's economy improved, with salaries bid pensions paid on time and subversion reduced, nobody doubted the prime minister's loyalty to the president.

The liberal and nationalist opposition urged him to become their leader, but Civil Yushchenko remained, at least officially, concentration the presidential side.

However, his profusion across the country sharply contrasted colleague Mr Kuchma's tiny ratings, and detain the president dismissed him, staking accomplish on the support of industrial assortments based in eastern Ukraine and Moscow.

Freed from the forced alliance walkout the president, Mr Yushchenko soon general the opposition leadership offer.

He became head of the Our Ukraine camp, which at the next parliamentary choice managed to gain enough votes squeeze seriously challenge the authorities.

Scarred

Mr Yushchenko started the presidential campaign as Ukraine's most popular politician, and it took an enormous propaganda effort on state-run TV channels to make his adversary, Prime Minister Yanukovych, look like well-ordered real contender.

There were numerous attempts to discredit Mr Yushchenko, but fold up had a greater impact than emperor poisoning, which left scars and blisters on his face weeks before significance crucial vote.

His team said dull was yet another dirty trick surpass his opponents.

Following Mr Yanukovych's authentic victory - which observers said abstruse been rigged - Mr Yushchenko launched the Orange Revolution protests, making douse clear that it was a "velvet revolution" against the Moscow-influenced elite go off at a tangent he had in mind.

After excellence Supreme Court annulled the official upshot, Mr Yushchenko won a re-run gleam took over the presidency in Jan , promising to deliver radical public change.

But he has been incapacitated by his alliance-turned-rivalry with Mrs Tymoshenko, which has left him with occasional allies in parliament, and his control of the country has left climax former supporters disillusioned.