The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers has given back privileges to ex-President Leonid Kuchma, the government press service reported on Friday, according to Itar-Tass.
On January 15, 2005, the government, headed by acting Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov, adopted a resolution on material support for Kuchma. He was given a state-owned summer cottage, with servants and guards, to be used during his lifetime. According to unofficial information, the staff of the ex-president included an adviser, two assistants, a cook, two housemaids and two waiters. Wages to all of them were paid from state reserves. Aside from it, he was given two cars with four drivers.
In February 2005, when Yulia Tymoshenko became prime minister, she cancelled the resolution on the grounds, that, according to the conclusions of the Ministry of Justice, the government exceeded its powers by granting privileges to Kuchma.
When Viktor Yushchenko won presidential elections in 2004, Kuchma went to work at the Ukraine Charity Foundation, which he himself had found. The central office of the Foundation is located in an old mansion, situated close to the building of the presidential secretariat.
Kuchma held the post of Ukrainian president for ten years – from 1004 to 2004.
