In his inauguration address, Yanukovich spoke of the challenges ahead.

He declared he would pursue a foreign policy involving ties with Russia, the European Union and the United States that would reap the most benefits for Ukraine.

Yanukovich took the oath of office in a low-key ceremony reflecting a bitterly-fought and disputed election.

Even today’s inaguraton ceremony in Ukraine´s parliament had a bit of hollow ring to it.

Most of the parliamentary faction of  outgoing Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and the prime minister herself, stayed away.

Some political obsevers say the election highlighted deep divisions in the country.

Yanukovich beat Tymoshenko by just 3-point-5 percentage points.

He won the support of only a third of  Ukraine´s 37-million voters.

That makes him the first president to have been supported by less than 50 percent of the the people who voted.

The voting pattern showed a sharp split between Russian-speaking voters, in the industrial east and south, who backed Yanukovich.

Ukrainian-speakers, in the west and center, voted for Tymoshenko.