Drinks bet lands Ukraine PM in trouble
Reuters - Friday 15 June 2012, 10:29
It seemed a light-hearted gesture
of goodwill at the time, but a drinks bet Ukrainian Prime
Minister Mykola Azarov had with a Swedish fan at Euro 2012 has
brought the wrath of the opposition down on him.
Azarov bet Swedish fan Ola Sjostedt a beer that Ukraine
would beat Sweden in their opening Group D match in the
tournament last Monday.
When the home team beat the Swedes 2-1, Azarov duly invited
Sjostedt to sup a beer with him at government offices in Kiev.
A widely-distributed photograph showed the usually-dour
white-haired prime minister smiling broadly, a Ukrainian
football scarf round his neck, as he raised a pint of beer with
his Swedish guest.
With political infighting in Ukraine running at a high
pitch, the opposition was quick to pounce.
Leading opposition deputy Mykola Tomenko, in a statement on
an opposition party website, reminded the 64-year-old Azarov
that drinking alcohol - even weak alcohol - was strictly
prohibited on official premises.
"It is shameful and inadmissible when the leaders of the
country contradict the law and the principles of defending
morality by beginning to publicise consumption of strong drink
during working hours and on state premises," said Tomenko.
He said Azarov should pay a fine of 85 hryvnias ($10) - the
usual level of punishment for an administrative offence - and he
called on the Kiev police to take necessary action to see this
was done.