Mykola Azarov

In 1994 Azarov was elected member of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) for the first time, representing the Petroskiy electoral district, located in the city of Donetsk. In 1995–1997 he served as head of the parliament's Committee on Budgets, while also sitting on the Verkhovna Rada's presidium. In parliament, he belonged to an inter regional group of MPs supporting then-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma. In 1995, while carrying on as an MP, Azarov was appointed an adviser to the currency council of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In 1996 he became Chairman of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine.

Azarov was a long-term (1996–2002) head of the State Tax Administration.[8][11] During this period tax inspections were used to limit the freedom of the press in Ukraine.[12][13][14][15] On tapes made during the Cassette Scandal Azarov is heard speaking on recordings, secretly recorded in Kuchma's office by Kuchma's bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko, about using his position as the head of the tax authority to pressure officials to ensure Kuchma's reelection in 1999.[11][16] Critics also stated that the recordings implicated Azarov in other corrupt schemes, including allegedly covering up graft at the state natural gas company Naftogaz,[11] aiding the demise of the Slaviansk Bank (which was connected to Yulia Tymoshenko's natural gas company United Energy Systems of Ukraine)[11] and illegal funding of Kuchma's 1999 election campaign.[17] Azarov has vehemently refuted all these allegations.[11] In 2002, he accused Slavyansk Bank president Borys Feldman of being behind the Cassette Scandal recordings.[11]

In 2001 he became the head of the Party of Regions but resigned from the post in less than a year. In 2003 Azarov was elected chairman of the Party of Regions political council.[8] In 2002, the European Choice parliamentary group nominated him for the Prime Minister's post, but he declined, standing aside for Viktor Yanukovych, who assumed both the leadership of the Party of Regions and the Prime Minister's job.[11] Azarov was appointed First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister in late November 2002, when the first Yanukovych Government took office.[8][18] During the first Yanukovych Government governing the set of economic reforms was implemented including fiscal, tax, pensionary, regulatory reforms. During Azarov's first term as Finance Minister, the annual GDP growth was 9.6% in 2003 and 12.1% in 2004 (cf. 2.7% in 2005) in Ukraine,[19] with capital investments of 31.3% and 28.0%[20] (cf. 1.9% in 2005[21]).[22]

Azarov first served as acting Prime Minister from 7 December 2004 to 28 December 2004, after Yanukovych was put on vacation leave by President Kuchma in the midst of the Orange Revolution.[8][23] After the runoff, Yanukovych attempted to resume his duties as prime minister, but effectively unable to do so, announced his resignation on 31 December 2004,[24] and Azarov was named acting Prime Minister again.[8][23] The Yanukovych Cabinet was officially dismissed on 5 January 2005.[25] Azarov continued as acting Prime Minister until shortly after the inauguration of Viktor Yushchenko, when Yulia Tymoshenko was appointed Prime Minister on 24 January 2005.[23][25] Azarov remained a strong political ally of Yanukovych, and again became a member of parliament for the Party of Regions after the 2006 Parliamentary elections.[8] When Yanukovych became Prime Minister again on 4 August 2006, Azarov was elected the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister in the second Yanukovych Government.[8]

Polish President Bronisław Komorowski and Azarov (30 September 2010)

Following his election as President of Ukraine,[26][27] Viktor Yanukovych offered three candidates for Prime Minister on 21 February 2010: Sergei Tigipko, Our Ukraine faction member Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Azarov.[26] Azarov had headed Yanukovych's election campaign during the 2010 Presidential elections.[11] The Verkhovna Rada appointed Azarov Prime Minister of Ukraine on 11 March 2010.[28][29] Of the 343 lawmakers registered in the session hall, 242 voted in favor of the appointment.[28] The next month he was elected head of the Party of Regions.[30] In 28 October 2012 parliamentary election he was (re)-elected into parliament heading the party list of Party of Regions.[31][32] Following Azarov's resignation as Prime Minister on 3 December 2012 (after several cabinet members including Azirov were elected to parliament in the previous election, something which obliged them to give up their ministerial mandates[33]) his cabinet stayed on as caretaker government from 3 December 2012.[34] On 5 December President Yanukovych stated "Azarov has good chances of remaining prime minister, (but) a lot will depend on whom he brings to his team".[35] On 9 December Yanukovych nominated him for a new term as Prime Minister.[36] This nomination was approved by parliament on 13 December 2012.[37] On 24 December 2012 the second Azarov Government was appointed by President Yanukovych.[38]

Azarov resigned 28 January 2014, amid heavy riots and the Euromaidan protests.[4] According to his cabinet, Azarov was quoted saying that "In order to create additional opportunities for socio-political compromise, for the sake of the peaceful settlement of the conflict, I have made a personal decision to ask the Ukrainian president to accept my resignation from the post of Ukrainian prime minister".[39] Azarov flew to Austria to join family members in a private jet hours after quitting.[40] As of 23 February 2014 Azarov is based in the Russian Federation.[41] On 29 March 2014, during a party congress, Azarov was expelled from the Party of Regions.[42]

On August 3, 2015, Azarov announced in Moscow the creation of a "Ukraine Salvation Committee," (Комитет спасения Украины) set up outside Ukraine, seeking to have "all citizens, political parties, labor union and social movements to unite and restore order in our home by joint efforts" [43] and to change Ukraine's leadership.[44][45] The committee's chairman and its choice for President of Ukraine is Volodymyr Oliynyk.[44] Azarov claimed he could not name all members of the committee because some lived in Ukraine and it would be dangerous to disclose their names.[44]