World Country Guide

History and Government

History
Ukraine first came under Russian suzerainty in the 1650s, as an alternative to invasion by the Poles. Although part of Ukraine was annexed by Poland shortly afterwards, the whole of Ukraine was taken over by Russia after the partition of Poland at the end of the 18th century. When the empire of the Tsar collapsed in 1917, Bolshevik forces consolidated their control over Ukraine and the republic was incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Ukraine became the scene for much of the key fighting during the civil war of the early-1920s and the Soviets subsequently lost some Ukrainian land to Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania.

These lands were recovered after the Soviet victory in World War II, along with the Crimea, which was also attached to Ukraine and is now the subject of an ongoing dispute between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. In the Gorbachev era, Ukrainian politics were substantially affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in northern Ukraine in 1986. The secretive and parsimonious behaviour of the authorities gave a boost to nascent opposition movements in the republic, particularly the Ukrainian People’s Movement for Restructuring, known as Rukh. Elections to the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet in March 1990 gave around one-third of the 450 seats to opposition groups, with the remainder taken by the Communist Party.

Under pressure from the opposition – Rukh in particular – the government gradually moved towards sovereignty and independence. In March 1991, a referendum was held at which the independence option attracted 80 per cent support. The failed Moscow coup of August 1991 spelt the end for the USSR; shortly afterwards the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet made a declaration of full independence. Among the new political parties that emerged around this time was the Ukraine National Movement, under the leadership of Leonid Kravchuk. Kravchuk’s record as a politician on the reformist wing of the Communist Party was sufficiently impressive for him to defeat the Rukh candidate, Vyacheslav Chornovil, to win the presidential poll held in December 1991.

International recognition of the new state was easily forthcoming, assisted by the historical anomaly that gave Ukraine its own seat at the UN distinct from that of the Soviet Union. (Belarus enjoys the same privilege.) The future relationship between the Russian Federation and Ukraine was the greatest uncertainty in the dissolution of the USSR, primarily because of the presence of a significant proportion of strategic nuclear systems in Ukraine, the future distribution of which was, in theory, governed by the US-Soviet START treaty. In January 1994, Kravchuk signed an agreement with Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin, agreeing to the destruction and/or transfer to Russia of the country’s nuclear arsenal, in exchange for US$1 billion in compensation and security guarantees.

Domestic politics have been dominated by economic reform and ethnic problems. The latter focused on the divisions between indigenous Ukrainians and ethnic Russians who had migrated into the republic, causing a roughly east-west geographical split between areas in which the two communities are dominant. As for economic reform, there was little dispute that it was needed, but sharp disagreements over its pace and nature. This dispute forced the resignation of Ukraine’s first Prime Minister, Vladimir Fokin, in September 1992, followed by much of his cabinet. This marked the first appearance on the national stage of Leonid Kuchma, who replaced Fokin as premier at the head of a government that included members of Rukh and the New Ukraine Bloc. Although the Kuchma government fell after a year, Kuchma then set his sights on the presidency – at the next election, held in March 1994, Kuchma defeated the incumbent Kravchuk and held onto his presidency for a decade, becoming the dominant figure in Ukrainian politics in the process.

Under Kuchma, the balance of power between the three main political forces in the country – the presidency, the cabinet and the Supreme Council (parliament) – was markedly shifted in favour of the presidency. Kuchma met a major challenge in the form of Viktor Yushchenko who took over as Prime Minister in March 1998 and won huge popularity by tackling bread-and-butter issues such as salary arrears, and tackling maladministration and corruption. However, by the spring of 2001, the ‘oligarchs’ who controlled much of the Ukrainian economy and who were President Kuchma’s most important allies, had had enough of Yushchenko and successfully arranged the demise of his government. Yushchenko gained a measure of revenge in March 2002, however, when his supporters (the ‘Viktor Yushchenko Bloc’) became the largest single grouping in the newly elected parliament. Meanwhile, President Kuchma became increasingly prone to autocratic and repressive behaviour, and something of an international pariah. Much of Kuchma’s wrath was directed against Ukraine’s free media, and several prominent journalists were forced into exile or, at worst, killed. By the end of 2003, tensions between Kuchma and parliament had deteriorated to the point where Kuchma was on the brink of declaring a state of emergency.

Kuchma was constitutionally barred from standing at the November 2004 presidential poll and concentrated on making life as difficult as possible for his probable successor - Viktor Yushchenko. The poll itself was surrounded in controversy with Yushchenko narrowly surviving a dioxin poison attack during the run-up. The country came to the brink of collapse when Yushchenko's opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, seemed to have won the presidential elections. This instigated mass protests on both sides - with huge unyielding crowds filling the streets of Kiev - and, during this period of 10 days until the electoral commission's announcement, one positive outcome was that Ukraine's media were finally broadcasting information that seemed balanced, eschewing the state-run television's usual constraints. Amid allegations of fraud, the Supreme Court declared the elections invalid, scheduling a re-run for December 26th 2004. Meanwhile, Parliament approved changes to reduce electoral fraud. The re-run of the elections certified Yushchenko as the winner in early January 2005 by 52 per cent to 44 per cent. Yanukovych quickly protested, prompting an appeal that was later rejected by the Supreme Court. He resigned as prime minister soon afterwards, and this post has now almost certainly been assigned to the glamorous and charismatic Yuliya Tymoshenko, after her nomination by Yuschenko. However, Yanukovych has vowed to continue to appeal Yushchenko's appointment as President.

Ukraine’s foreign relations are dominated by the Russian Federation. Disputes that initially marred bilateral relations – such as the future of the former Soviet Black Sea fleet and of Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal – have, for the most part, been resolved. Since the accession of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin, ever-closer political and economic ties have developed between the two countries. However, this is likely to alter somewhat following the recent appointment of Yushchenko as President. In the initial fraudulent election, the Kremlin was the first to telephone Yanukovych in order to congratulate him. Now Yushchenko has finally been declared the electoral winner, it is unknown how much Putin and the Kremlin will appreciate the assignation of a man notoriously pro-Western and keen to bolster links with Europe. Further afield, Ukraine has made steady progress in initiating and developing relations with the EU and also Latin American countries, such as Argentina and Brazil, which have sizeable Ukrainian exile communities. In December 2002, Ukraine’s failure to introduce adequate measures against money laundering put the country on an international blacklist. Yushchenko has declared that he wishes to promote freedom and democracy in his country and banish all hints of corruption: he is under the expectant gaze of an international audience.

Government
Legislative power is in the hands of the 450-strong Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) of whom half are elected by proportional representation and half directly in single-seat constituencies. Executive power is held by the president, who is directly elected for a five-year term, assisted by the Council of Ministers, which controls the day-to-day operation of the government. The Prime Minister, who heads the Council of Ministers, is a presidential appointee.