This would have taken months, during which time Mr Kuchma would have stayed in power.
Mr Lazarenko was prime minister in 1996-97, when he was sacked by President Leonid Kuchma.
When Leonid Kuchma was elected president four years ago, Ukraine's future looked quite bright.
Ukrainians may not like Mr Kuchma much, but they distrust Mr Symonyenko even more.
ECONOMIST: Hope for a Ukrainian recovery is ever more distant
Leonid Kuchma is 61, but he has presented himself as the candidate for youth, innovation and reform.
Mr Kuchma immediately signed the bill into law, and the opposition lifted its blockade of government buildings.
But if the tide continues to turn against Mr Kuchma there are others who may speak out.
EBRD's money and advice, Mr Kuchma promised still more subsidies and credits for the country's beleaguered farmers.
Mr Lazarenko became prime minister in 1996 but was sacked the following year by President Leonid Kuchma.
In the past, when Ukraine has broken its economic promises, Mr Kuchma has been able to blame left-wingers.
The charges against Mr Kuchma may be designed to show that the law has not been applied selectively.
ECONOMIST: What lies behind the charging of a former president
The hope is that, with Mr Lazarenko out, Mr Kuchma will find the nerve to back reformers more whole-heartedly.
Mr Kuchma gives his consent, and adds that the Jordanian must be made to keep quiet about the deal.
Yulia Timoshenko, a volatile but important ally, had talked darkly about Mr Kuchma's fate if he did not co-operate.
ECONOMIST: Peace breaks out in Ukraine, at least for the time being
Mr Kuchma bumbles but he has some notion of the reforms Ukraine requires.
In any event, the scandal has clearly shaken Mr Kuchma and his team.
To give Mr Kuchma his due, he has driven Ukraine's foreign policy well.
Mr Kuchma has allowed his friends to enrich themselves on a huge scale.
President Kuchma said working group talks between representatives of the two rivals, designed to end the crisis, were going badly.
Mr Kuchma's greatest weakness is his lack of popular support - his opinion poll approval rating is in single figures.
If he and Mr Kuchma got through to the second-round run-off, Mr Moroz's supporters would probably then back Mr Kuchma.
ECONOMIST: Hope for a Ukrainian recovery is ever more distant
"No-one can say what sort of compromise can be found or whether one will be found at all, " said Mr Kuchma.
He has taken leave from his post to campaign, and is trying, not very convincingly, to distance himself from Mr Kuchma.
ECONOMIST: Peace breaks out in Ukraine, at least for the time being
On Monday, Ms Tymoshenko cast doubt on Ukraine's record growth figures for 2004, produced under the administration of former President Leonid Kuchma.
After falling out with Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, in 1999, Pavlo Lazarenko fled to the United States to avoid justice and seek asylum.
Mr Kuchma, like Mr Yeltsin, is a survivor who can never be ruled out, but he is probably too unpopular to win again.
Meanwhile, Kuchma characterised the "Kaniv Four" as " brutes" who were "interested in power and only in power - at any price, " Unian reported.
In the meantime, Mr Kuchma seems to reckon that if fair means will not win him the election, foul ones will have to do.
ECONOMIST: Hope for a Ukrainian recovery is ever more distant
He now leads the centrist opposition Hromoda party and has accused President Kuchma and his allies of trying to blacken his name with corruption charges.
The few top Ukrainians brought to book, including a former prime minister appointed by Mr Kuchma, have been arrested by foreign police on trips abroad.
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