Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk announces resignation

KIEV, Ukraine, ACCRA, April 11 - (UPI/GNA) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation Sunday, after failing to initiate accelerated government reforms.

The coalition of Yatsenyuk's party and that of President Petro Poroshenko have ruled Ukraine through war, corruption and economic stagnation, while lenders, including the International Monetary Fund, have demanded faster implementation of improvements to bring a European-style transparency to the former Soviet republic. Although Yatsenyuk developed a more professional police force and closed some banks accused of corruption, he was hampered by a military insurgency, supported by neighboring Russia, and Ukraine's ongoing economic hardship.

Yatsenyuk, 41, will formally resign Tuesday. He survived a no-confidence vote in February, a call by Poroshenko to resign and public opinion polls which showed his support as low as 1 percent. He added Sunday his People's Front Party will remain in the coalition with Poroshenko's Social Democratic Party; Poroshenko is expected to nominate parliament Speaker Volodymyr Hroisman, a Social Democrat, to the prime minister position.

"I thank our nation, society, civil society activists, volunteers; I thank each and every one of you for your endurance and patience. As of today my goals are broader: new electoral law, constitutional reform, judicial reform, Ukraine's membership in the EU (European Union) and NATO," Yatsenyuk said in a statement.

Changes in Ukraine since the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 have been slow, despite a $17.5 billion bailout by the IMF and another $1 billion promised by the United States.

GNA