Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders:
Agrarian Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; Communist Party of Ukraine or
CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Initiatives [Stepan HAVRYSH];
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Our Ukraine bloc
(comprised of several parties the most prominent of which are Rukh,
the Ukrainian People's Party, Reforms and Order, and Solidarity)
[Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy
PUSTOVOYTENKO]; Regions of Ukraine [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Socialist
Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; United Social
Democratic Party [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Working Ukraine [Serhiy
TYHYPKO]; Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
note: as well as numerous smaller parties; United Ukraine and Center
Group are not actual political parties, but rather deputy groups
(factions not based on a party)
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS
(observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mykhailo B. REZNIK
FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817
consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York
telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador John E. HERBST
embassy: 10 Yuriia Kotsiubynskoho Street, 04053 Kiev
mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850
telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000
FAX: [380] (44) 490-4085
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 December 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% of
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. President KUCHMA had 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. 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 of 4.6% in 2002 was more
moderate, in part a reflection of faltering growth in the developed
world. In general, growth has been undergirded by strong domestic
demand, low inflation, and solid consumer and investor confidence.
Growth was a sturdy 9.3% in 2003 and a remarkable 12% in 2004,
despite a loss of momentum in needed economic reforms.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $260.4 billion (2003 est.)