KIEV, April 23 – Ukraine’s two largest opposition groups on Monday signed a unification agreement allowing former Parliamentary Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk to lead jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party in October elections.

The agreement, which was delayed by almost a month, is a milestone seen by many politicians as the only chance for the opposition groups to defeat President Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions Party.

“The talks were very hard and continued for a long time, but the decision that has been approved is irreversible,” Yatseniuk said at a press conference announcing the agreement.

Yatseniuk tried for most of the past week to arrange a meeting with Tymoshenko in jail to secure her support for the agreement. The authorities declined, citing various reasons, including the fact that Tymoshenko did not feel well.

But Tymoshenko finally signed the agreement and delivered the paper to Yatseniuk through her lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, opening the way for the unification.

“It’s important that there is the signature of Tymoshenko under the agreement,” Yatseniuk said.

Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s most popular opposition leader, was jailed to seven years in prison in October 2011 for abuse of power during her time as the prime minister in 2009 and thus cannot run for a seat in Parliament.

As part of the agreement, Yatseniuk and his allies will quit his Front for Changes party to join the Batkivshcyna group on its party list to comply with the election law.

The two groups, jointly with other, smaller opposition group, will also nominate 225 candidates running for seats in individual constituency districts across Ukraine.

The agreement will most likely alleviate financial crunch currently experienced by Batkivshchyna as most of its wealthy supporters – after pressure from the authorities - had suspended funding and switched loyalty to the Regions Party.

Yatseniuk’s business allies did not have as much pressure from the authorities as Tymoshenko’s and will be able to provide cash, at least initially, for the campaign of Batkivshchyna, analysts said.

“The united Batkivshchyna party will probably score better than the united Regions Party,” Roman Shayk, a Ukrainian media expert, wrote on his blog.

“Yes, the fate of the election will most likely be decided in majority districts, but the proportional vote victory will have a psychological effect [on voters] ahead of crucial presidential election” in March 2015, he said.

Oleksandr Turchynov, a close Tymoshenko ally, will run Batkivshchyna’s election campaign, a job that will include mapping strategies, managing finances and organizing rallies and support throughout the country.

He said Tymoshenko will be involved in the campaign from her jail cell by regularly checking to approve or to reject candidates suggested for either party-list or majority districts.

Vitaliy Klichko, Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion and the leader of his UDAR, or Punch, party, has so far refused to join the united opposition groups. But the groups vowed to support his candidacy for the Kiev mayor post.

“My colleagues and I are a little bit upset because Klichko is not among those who united,” Turchynov said. “Either you work for the Regions, whatever your name is, or you get united with the democratic opposition. Vitaliy will have to make the choice.” (tl/ez)