Kuchma was satisfied with Yanukovych's work until he began to promote his presidential ambitions

Second President Leonid Kuchma was satisfied with the work of Viktor Yanukovych as prime minister, but he has not yet started to promote his presidential ambitions. Kuchma said this in an interview with BBC.

The second president recalled that Ukraine had had seven prime ministers during his tenure. He clarified that this does not mean that he "opened the door" to politics for all of them.

"In addition, at the time of his appointment, Yanukovych was already a political figure of a prominent caliber. According to the 1996 Constitution, Ukraine was a presidential-parliamentary republic, so the post of prime minister was more technical than political," Kuchma explained.

According to him, at first he wanted to propose Serhiy Tihipko as head of the government. But he concluded that there was no chance of his approval in the Verkhovna Rada. And Tigipko himself refused at the time. This is how Yanukovych's candidacy emerged.

"Until Yanukovych began to promote his presidential ambitions, I was satisfied with the work of his government, especially the economic bloc. Yanukovych was really a perfectly acceptable prime minister. And he turned out to be a really terrible president," Kuchma said.

He added that from the beginning he was very cautious about his presidential prospects. And during the Orange Revolution, he proposed to withdraw his candidacy.

Kuchma added that he did not promote Yanukovych. In his opinion, this was done by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

• In the same interview, Kuchma explained why he appointed Tabachnyk and Medvedchuk to head the presidential administration. According to him, they were efficient bureaucrats and behaved and spoke in his presence as statesmen.