Publication

This paper discusses the June 2003 dismissal of General Volodymyr Shkidchenko as Ukrainian minister of defense and the appointment of Yevhen Kirylovych Marchuk as his replacement. The author details the factors which Ukrainians believe influenced the appointment of Marchuk, the previous secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, as the next defense minister. The paper explains that Marchuk should have the capability of achieving real, though limited, reforms given national political and economic constraints.