Ukrainian opposition leader Yuliya Tymoshenko profiled.

Opposition figure Yuliya Tymoshenko is ruthless but charming, vulnerable yet undaunted, according to an article in the serious Ukrainian weekly Zerkalo Nedeli. Her chances of leading her election bloc into parliament are slim, but she is a very determined person. Her ultimate goal is the presidency, according to the article by Yuliya Mostova and Serhiy Rakhmanin. The following is an excerpt from the article in Zerkalo Nedeli on 23 February; the subheadings have been inserted editorially:

Tymoshenko's rise to power

More than enough has been said and written about Yuliya Tymoshenko. But in fact there is not that much information about the Dnipropetrovsk period of the life of the future "gas baroness" and later first lady of the domestic opposition. Moreover, that information is very specific and far from certain. This is all the more so, since the sources, as a rule, are either law-enforcement agencies or circles close to Bankova [Street in Kiev where the presidential administration is located] or to heads of leading business and political groups.

A graduate from Dnipropetrovsk State University and an economist by education, Yuliya Tymoshenko worked at the Dnipropetrovsk Lenin machine-building plant from 1984 to 1989. From 1989 to 1991 she was the commercial director of the Terminal youth centre. From spring 1991 to autumn 1995 the future deputy prime minister worked for the Ukrainian Petrol Corporation, first as commercial, then general director. In November 1995 she became head of the United Energy Systems [UES] corporation, which was backed by Pavlo Lazarenko [former prime minister, now in custody in USA on money-laundering charges], who not long before was appointed first deputy prime minister by [President] Leonid Kuchma. In May 1996 Mr Lazarenko was promoted to prime minister and in December the UES chief appeared in the capital. The business lady had …