Ukraine looks to new pro-EU government after PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk quits

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The former Soviet republic has been roiled by a pro-Russian eastern revolt and an economic collapse that has wiped out people’s savings and stirred public resentment toward the government since Yatsenyuk assumed office in February 2014.

President Petro Poroshenko’s party has proposed replacing Yatsenyuk with parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman — a coalition builder who has gained stature by keeping the notoriously rowdy chamber in relative peace since his appointment in November 2014.

But some economists fear that the 38-year-old protege of Poroshenko may lack the toughness needed to stand up to a handful of tycoons who have dominated Ukraine’s fractious politics for years.

Parliament is to decide whether to accept Yatsenyuk’s resignation Tuesday at what is expected to be a marathon session that might also include a vote on Groysman’s candidacy.

Yatsenyuk’s party member Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook that there were “more than enough votes” needed to accept the premier’s resignation.

Yet what comes next is far less clear.

“There is still huge uncertainty about the political situation,” London’s Capital Economic consultancy warned.