Viktor Yanukovych has resigned his post as Ukraine’s Prime Minister. He is still refusing to acknowledge Victor Yushchenko’s victory in the presidential election.

Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovich said on Friday he was resigning as prime minister, though he refused to concede defeat in a presidential election, while the liberal winner of the poll prepared a momentous New Year celebration.

Yanukovich has denounced rival Viktor Yushchenko’s victory in the re-run of last month’s rigged election and has vowed to press on with legal challenges to overturn the outcome.

But in a televised New Year’s address, he acknowledged the appeals to election authorities and the Supreme Court stood little chance of success.

“In view of this, there is no point in staying on as prime minister. The political role of the Yanukovich government as a factor of stability in the past year is all but exhausted,” he said. “I have taken the formal decision to resign.”