Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, 225 of the Supreme Council's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% or more of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - Our Ukraine 24%, For One Ukraine 12%, CPU 20%, Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine 6%, SPU 7%, Juliya Tymochenko Election Bloc 7%, other 24%; seats by party - Our Ukraine 112, For One Ukraine 101, CPU 67, Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine 24, SPU 23, Juliya Tymochenko Election Bloc 21, Democratic Party of Ukraine 4, Unity 3, others 95 elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held NA 2006)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party [Mykhaylo HLADIY];
Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Union
[Oleksandr OMELCHENKO]; Fatherland (Motherland) All Ukrainian Party
[Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, chairperson]; For One Ukraine [leader NA]; Green Party
of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, chairman]; Juliya Tymochenko Election
Bloc [leader NA]; Liberal Party [Volodymyr SHCHERBAN]; Our Ukraine [leader
NA]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Party
of Regions [Volodymyr SEMYNOZHENKO]; Party of Ukrainian Unity [Ivan
BILAS]; Peasant Party of Ukraine or SelPU [Serhiy DOVHAN]; People's
Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's
Movement of Ukraine or Rukh U [Hennadiy UDOVENKO, chairman]; Progressive
Socialist Party [Nataliya VITRENKO]; Reforms Congress [Viktor PYNZENYK];
Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Socialist
Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Solidarity [Petro
POROSHENKO]; Trudova Ukrayina/Working Ukraine [Viktor PINCHUK, chairman];
Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh K [Yuriy KOSTENKO, chairman]; Unity
[Oleksandr OMELCHENKO]; Working Ukraine/Labort Ukraine [Serhiy TYHYPKO];
Yabluko [BRODSKY] note: and numerous smaller parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS,
EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer),
OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE,
UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Konstantin Ivanovych HRYSHCHENKO FAX: [1] Chicago and New York telephone: Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos PASCUAL embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi Street, Kiev 01901 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350
Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky
Economy Ukraine
Economy - overview: After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements. Shortly after independence in late 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Now in his second term, President KUCHMA has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support. GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence - and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001 as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth was undergirded by strong domestic demand and growing consumer and investor confidence.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $205 billion (2001 est.)