KIEV, Nov. 30 - Yielding to growing pressure from protesting small business owners, President Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday vetoed a controversial tax law.

Yanukovych took action three days earlier than he had originally planned after the protesters had rejected talks with the government, and called for its dismissal.

“Today I vetoed the Tax Code,” Yanukovych said before leaving for Astana, Kazakhstan, to join a summit of the Organization for Security and Economic Cooperation in Europe.

Yanukovych also set up a team involving government officials and some of the protesters that are supposed to come up with amendments to the tax legislation before it is again submitted to Parliament.

The veto is a victory for the protesting entrepreneurs that have been defying freezing temperatures in a tent camp that had erected in downtown Kiev.

“The authorities got scared of the protesting entrepreneurs and suspended the anti-people Tax Code,” the protesters said in a statement. “But this is not the final victory just yet. We will not be satisfied with cosmetic amendments.”

The protesters insisted that the government must be dismissed and the new government should start drafting a new tax legislation from scratch.

The protesters also fear that lawmakers may try to override the veto from Yanukovych on Thursday, and pledged to stay in their tents until the issue is clear. They also called on the people to show up at the Maydan Nezalezhnosti downtown square in Kiev for support on Thursday.

The protest began on Nov. 22 as a spontaneous reaction to the Tax Code, which was approved by Parliament on Nov. 18. The protesters complain that the tax legislation is reducing taxes on big corporations, but increases pressure on small businesses.

About 1 million small business jobs may be lost in Ukraine after the new tax legislation is enacted, mostly because new taxes and bribes are often making operation unprofitable, according to opposition lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the political demands made by the protesting entrepreneurs have been increasing echoing those made the largest opposition party, Batkivshchyna, which has been also insisting on drafting the new tax legislation from scratch.

“I congratulate small business entrepreneurs and all Ukrainian people with the victory - the veto of there!” Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and the leader of Batkivshchyna, said in a statement. “At the same time, I warn Yanukovych against making the cosmetic amendments.”

“Our political group is calling for drafting a principally different Tax Code,” Tymoshenko said.

Also, Tymoshenko poked fun at Yanukovych for yielding to the pressure of the protesters.

“For the second time over the past six years the people have risen against Yanukovych, and for the second time they had secured victory and protected their rights with the help of Maydan rally,” Tymoshenko said.

“Yanukovych is afraid of the Maydan like a fire,” Tymoshenko said. “If the authorities fail to listen to the opinion of the society and the opposition, there will be a third Maydan that may become fatal for Yanukovych.” (tl/ez)