Yanukovych’s July 9 birthday to become high-profile event

The portrait is a 100x80 cm picture depicting Yanukovych in a chair with the flag of Ukraine on his right and the icon of St. Mary on the left. It is titled “Our President”.
The Mayor of Donetsk Oleksandr Lukyanchenko will deliver the portrait to Kyiv July 9 to hand it to Viktor Yanukovych. The portrait will be put in a case embroidered with golden threads.

The local artist, Tetyana Ponomarenko-Leverash, also painted portraits of Donetsk Shakhtar FC players and the local tycoon Rinat Akhmetov.

According to Segodnya, his 60th jubilee Yanukovych will celebrate for 3 days, on July 9 in Kyiv, and on July 10-11 in Crimea. Ukraine politicians will greet the president in Kyiv, and foreign guests will do the same in Crimea. Already Dmitrij Medvedev, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Nirsultan Nazarbayev have confirmed their participation, a source in the presidential administration said.

On Saturday, foreign presidents will have an unofficial summit in Crimea.
The official dinner will be thrown in at the presidential residence in Foros. Guests will be treated to pheasants to be supplied by the state-run Kholodna hora farm in Crimea. 
July 11 breakfast will be held at the Shakhtar state dacha built by Stalin in 1948. After it the guests will go to the Belbek air base to attend a presentation of Ukraine’s new AN-158 passenger plane.

Ukraine and Russia prominent singers have been invited to perform in the presence of Yanukovych and his guests. Sofia Rotaru, Ivo Bobul, Andry Danilko, Tina Karol, Kateryna Buzhynska, Filip Kirkorov, Valeria and Nikolaj Baskov are said to have been invited although some of them have not confirmed the invitation. For instance, Baskov will be tied up in the Slovyansky bazaar festival and Kirkorov’s aides denied any knowledge of the invitation.
Bobul and Buzhynska claimed they won’t charge Yanukovych for their singing, while Rotaru’s manager-son refused to comment. According to unofficial reports, Rotaru charges euro 50,000 for her concerts. However, as a well-known Kyiv producer says, popular singers seldom send bills to high-ranking officials, expecting favors later.