PM announces resignation in connection with the breakup of the coalition and blocking of government initiatives

Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk from the rostrum of the Parliament on Thursday, July 24 announced the resignation in connection with the collapse of the coalition and blocking of government initiatives.

Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s speech:

"Dear Mr. Chairman, former coalition partners of the “European choice” - this is a choice for which millions of Ukrainian have been standing, it is a choice that people have made on the Maidan, it is a choice that Ukraine should make, so has disposed the history – as well as MPs from the opposition!

It is a difficult speech and difficult moment not for me personally, but difficult time for the whole country. I try to avoid any diplomatic words, much less political and technological, and tell the truth as I did the last five months with this Government. It's not the best Government in the country’s history. God grant, probably, in the future Ukraine had an exemplary Government, if Ukraine still exists and if we go through this period of terrible challenges.

But at least this Government did what it could, how it could, what parents taught, how you feel that and what Ukrainians would like us to do.

Am I personally satisfied with the work? Of course, I’m not. I would like to do more, I would like to do it better and faster. But answering the question, whether we’ve done everything we could, what in our best – I shall give an affirmative answer: yes, we’ve done.

What happened today in the Parliament, it would cause difficult, if not dramatic consequences for Ukraine. God grant that I was wrong. And we will applaud those who say: we made the right decision, we were right, the course we chose was the only correct one.

Yes, most people want early parliamentary elections. We want these elections. It's true. But there is one very important thing. What is the difference between a national leader and politician? The difference is that the national leader takes responsibility. Even if you do not like it.

You must, dear colleagues, understand me correctly. Our Government has no answer to the question how to pay salaries, how to fill APCs [armoured personnel carriers] tomorrow morning, how I should pay the families of people who died. How? With what money? How to maintain the Army and Armed Forces? How not to demoralize the spirit of those tens of thousands of people who are not sitting in the Parliament, but under the bullets in the trenches? Maybe we take care of them?

The laws that should fill the revenue part of the budget have been failed. This is the result of the collapse of the coalition. And, it’s clear, who wants to participate in elections and at the same time vote for unpopular laws?

We need the budget law not for the IMF, but for all of us - there is UAH 9 billion for the Army and 7 billion for infrastructure restoration in Donetsk, Luhansk. I visited Sloviansk, I saw people there. It is clear that they are not fond of the central power in Kyiv. But I can say for sure: DNR, LNR and other dregs of society they hate. But these people need help. It is our Ukrainians. So it happens that people make mistakes. And no one is saint in this Parliament, as well as in the whole world.

Therefore, if we are more accurate, frank and sincere to each other, there will be a different country. To jeopardize the country’s fate because of narrow political interests is unacceptable. It is a moral and political crime.

The worst thing for me, personally, not as PM - our country has already seen dozens of PMs before me, and even after me, God grant that there were many, but as for a human being - is that today, when in fact the coalition broke up, you have failed to pass the law on the GTS. Everyone understands everything. For the first time, we wanted to decide to allow only genuine European and American companies, and only with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, to take part in the management of our gas and transport system, and it is only 49%. The pipe remains in state ownership, the state has a controlling block of shares. And even this decision has been failed.

What disappoints me the most? The fact that the State Duma of the Russian Federation is applauding now. That’s who now has won. That's who is celebrating today. And that’s who is going to banquet today.

You may agree or disagree, and I do not pretend to be the absolute truth, I do not have a right to. But the history shall not forgive us. God grant so that we overcame this period. Despite all I as everyone still sincerely believe that our country will manage to overcome these challenges, especially the people. It’s not us who made this revolution. It was made by millions of people. It’s not us who defended a European choice. European choice was defended by the Heroes of Nebesna Sotnya and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who went on protest. And nobody is allowed to betray this achievement.

The history teaches us that we are just about to achieve something, and fail a little thing in order to reach this. So it was with the Ukrainian People's Republic. It should not be like that. We must finally demonstrate to the world that we are able to work more than five of six months, and that we have consciousness, responsibility that our goals are righteous and fair, we are honest towards each other.

Once again I urge: the elections - it's nothing. We have already had so many. But the country, Ukrainians, who will now lose their faith? And any changes and reforms are possible only when people believe. But now, after what happens, I find it hard how to make people believe that we are doing right things.

So, what we have today - the coalition has fallen apart, laws haven’t been voted on, soldiers, policemen, doctors, teachers can’t be paid, there’s no money to buy rifles, there is no fuel to fill the APCs, there’s no possibility to store up gas in order to give opportunity to spend this winter, to finally break free from Russian gas dependence - is unacceptable.

In this situation, what options does the Government have? Since we have a parliamentary-presidential republic, the first option - as the coalition has broken up, thus the Prime Minister begins the process of forming a new one. What does this mean? This means that the Prime Minister should take in a new coalition communists and "regions". I will do this under no circumstances.

There is a second option. Since we have not a new coalition, the current coalition in a parliamentary-presidential republic collapsed, the Government and the Prime Minister shall resign. I announce my resignation in connection with the breakup of the coalition and blocking of the government initiatives.

Glory to Ukraine!