KIEV, Sept. 7 - Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk dismissed Odessa regional administration chief and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's claims that Ukrainian oligarchs control the executive branch.

"I would like to address the head of the Odessa regional state administration: I understand all his emotionality, and I understand what hard times he is having now. It's hard for everyone. We all are united here, and therefore emotions and groundless accusations play only into the hands of those who are against reforms and against real changes in Ukraine. It is even more unseemly for a former president to resort to lying accusations. But I am his first ally," Yatseniuk said at a news briefing in Kiev on Friday.