In an interview with "Foreign Policy" magazine Foreign Minister of Ukraine Kostyantyn Hryshchenko criticized Tymoshenko's government for empty promises.

"Over the years of so-called Orange rule, the chiefs of various factions of the Orange leadership promised everything: to return people's money which was left in Soviet banks, to stop the draft, to raise pensions -- which they did for a certain period of time but then inflation ate it up -- to get into the European Union.

What they consistently did was essentially promise everything to everyone and then forget about it all. And then, they lost power through fair, free elections at the beginning of 2010. Not because there were anything specific done from outside. And not because we had a very flashy campaign -- the flashy campaign was done on their side. But simply because people started to understand that they were being taken advantage of," he said.

At the same time the minister noted that Viktor Yanukovych is the only president who actually tries to realize his election campaign.

"This is the first time in 20 years that we have a president who has taken the lead on formulating an overarching strategy of how to change not simply one sector or two, but bringing reforms which will be consistent with each other, and should lead to very clear results.

That means making life much easier for business so that it would create better conditions for the people who work for the business. It means making sure that everyone in society will pay taxes. But it's also the fight against corruption," he told the magazine.

Speaking about the investigation into Tymoshenko's activities as a prime minister, Hryshchenko pointed out that no one is immune from being asked to report what he had done when there are questions about your activities when you are in government.

"It is not selective justice, but we do not accept an idea that if you are head of government and you commit -- let's put it -- "alleged" offenses where there is substantial ground to conduct an investigation, that you should be immune. 

We understand that perceptions can make this difficult, but for us, it is important, not only to make a good impression but, though our actions, to change society for the better," he said.

At the same time the foreign minister of Ukraine acknowledged that the perception that this prosecution is politically motivated could set back Ukraine's goal of eventual European Union membership, but noted that the investigation itself is transparent and open.

"I think again that the whole effort was done in a manner so that there will be transparency in this particular investigation. There are many allegations vis-à-vis the previous government. There are many allegations vis-à-vis the current government. But there are certain things that are more-or-less clear. To make sure that this was not seen as selective, the government has hired three internationally renowned companies to provide an audit of what has been done.

What can I say? I was told by some of my colleagues that we are opening a Pandora's box: They say, next time you're out of government that you will be called to account. Thankfully, the only thing I could steal from my ministry is a stapler," he summed up.

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