Ukraine without Kuchma
In January 2001, President Leonid Kuchma dismissed Tymoshenko from the post of Deputy Prime Minister for fuel and energy sector in the cabinet of Viktor Yushchenko. Following this, and during the "Ukraine without Kuchma"-protests, Tymoshenko began the loose organisation the National Salvation Committee on 9 February 2001. This organisation later merged into the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) in November 2001.