Revenge of the oligarchs.(Ukraine's political crisis)(Brief Article)

Ukraine's energy barons didn't like the country's prime minister. So they got rid of him

Ukraine is in the grip of a spectacular political crisis. The country's pro-western prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, was this week voted out in a parliamentary no-confidence motion engineered by powerful business interests.

The tumult has sparked demonstrations on the streets of Kiev, and fresh calls for the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma who was recently accused of involvement in the murder of opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze. Not surprisingly, foreign investors and lenders -- never particularly keen on Ukraine in the first place -- are taking fright. …