English
GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION
Ukraine, with a territory of 603.7 thousand sq kilometres and a
population of 48.4 million people, is one of the biggest countries of
Europe. Administratively, Ukraine is made up of 24 Oblasts and one
Autonomous Republic (Crimea). The capital city is Kyiv.
Ukraine is bordered by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and
Moldova on the west and south-west, and by Belarus and Russia on
the north and north-east; on the south, Ukraine is bordered by the
Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The longest river is Dnipro, and the biggest mountain chain is the Carpathians. It is in the
Carpathians that the geographical centre of Europe is located.
Among 454 cities and towns of Ukraine the biggest are: Kyiv (population 2.6 million); Kharkiv
(population 1.6 million); Dnepropetrovsk (population 1.1 million); Odesa (population 1.1 million);
Donetsk (population 1.1 million), and Lviv (population 802 thousand).
67 percent of the Ukrainians live in towns, and 33 percent live in the countryside, with the ethnic
Ukrainians making up 80 percent of the population; the rest are Russians, Belorussians,
Romanians, Tartars, Jews, Germans, Bulgarians and others, 126 ethnic groups in all.
CLIMATE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Ukraine's climate is temperate continental, and subtropical at the southern coast of the Crimea.
The mean temperature in January is -5°C (+ 23 F) and +20°C (68 F) in July.
95 percent of the Ukrainian territory is spread out over the Eastern European Plain; 5 percent of
the territory is taken up by mountainous areas; 14 percent of the land is covered with forests; 4
percent - water reservoirs; 1.6 percent - swamps. 71 percent of all the land in Ukraine is arable,
with 12 million hectares (30 million acres) having the fertile black soil (chornozem). 5 percent of
the world's mineral resources are concentrated in Ukraine (coal; iron and manganese ores;
uranium; graphite, and rock-salt).
BRIEF HISTORY
The Ukrainians are believed to have descended from those
Indo-Europeans who settled in Eastern Europe. The
available archaeological evidence suggests that roots of the
pre-Ukrainians may be found in the Trypillya culture which
dates from the fifth to third millennium BC; there may be
some links to other ancient cultures which flourished in the
territory of the present-day Ukraine, including the mysterious
Scythians.
The pre-Ukrainians maintained trade and culture contacts with
the ancient Greek city-states which sprang upon the shores of
the southern Crimea in the 7th - 6th centuries BC; later, a part
of the Crimea was included into the Kingdom of Bosporus
which for a period of time was a major rival of Rome in the
Black Sea area. The ancient Romans established their
outposts in the Crimea, to be succeeded by the Goths and the
Huns.
At the end of the tenth century, the city of Kyiv, the date of
whose foundation is uncertain (it is safe to place the foundation of Kyiv not
later than in the fifth century AD but it may be much older), became the capital of a powerful state,
Kyivan Rus. It stretched as far north as the Baltic, as far south as the Black Sea, as far west as
the Carpathians, and as far east as the Volga.
In 988, Ukraine-Rus was converted to Christianity, and the
Christian culture was conducive to the rapid development of towns.
It was in the 11th century that the language spoken in Ukraine-
Rus began to acquire features which later would develop into
Ukrainian.
Kyivan Rus was a bulwark of European civilization, a sort of its
easternmost UltimaThule, at the edge of the Great Steppe, which
was roomed by nomads who kept making incursions into the
Ukrainian-Rus lands, some of which were widely disruptive and
destructive.
The 13th century saw a devastating invasion of the Mongols which
dealt a mortal blow to Kyivan Rus which had already been
weakened by internal strife, with local rulers vying for power over Kyiv.
Tragic as the invasion was, it did not destroy the Slavic culture as it was upheld in the
Halytsko-Volynske Principality in the western part of what used to be Kyivan Rus. This principality
proved to be strong enough to withstand the pressure both from the east and from the west,
fending off the attempts of the western crusaders to subjugate it. One of its rulers, Danylo, was
crowned a king, and his kingdom preserved, to a great extent, the cultural heritage of Kyivan Rus.
A considerable part of Ukraine later came under the domination of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
but preserved much of its cultural originality. The official language of Lithuania in the 15th century
was what is called "Old Ukrainian;" the city of Kyiv acquired the status of a free city which it was
granted under the Magdeburg Law.
Poland, Muscow and Turkey, attracted by the fertility of the land and advantageous geographical
position of Ukraine, were the neighbours that wanted to establish their control over parts of this
country. The Zaporizhian Sich which emerged as a sort of a Cossack state in the area around
the southern reaches of the Dnipro River, gradually acquired the status of an upholder of freedom
and cultural traditions. In the mid-seventeenth century, after a period of wars of independence
fought under the leadership of Hetman (military and state leader) Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukraine
once again emerged as an independent state formation.
In 1654, the hetman, in the face of an imminent invasion from Turkey and Poland, was forced to
sign a treaty in the town of Pereyaslavl with Russia which put Ukraine under the protection of the
Russian tsar. As later events showed, it proved to be a turning - and tragic - point in the history of
Ukraine - Russia was turning into an empire and an independent Ukraine was not something it
would tolerate. Only five years after the treaty in Pereyaslavl was signed (the treaty gave
considerable rights and privileges to the Ukrainian land owners and nobles, Ukrainian clergy and
autonomy for the Zaporizhian Sich Cossacks), a much stricter control was established by Russia
over the hetman and the Cossack starshyna (self-government); the number of Russian troops
stationed in Ukraine also grew considerably.
In the early 18th century, an attempt of Hetman Ivan Mazepa to break free from the Russian
clutches badly failed. The last vestiges of autonomy were done away with; no traces of former
liberties were left and serfdom was introduced. At the end of the 18th century, Ukraine was torn
apart by Russia and Austria.
In spite of the loss of statehood, prominent cultural figures of Ukraine, and later an ever widening
circle of Ukrainian intellectuals, never abandoned the hope of restoring Ukraine's independence.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw an upsurge of activity in the national liberation
movement and a growing national awareness gave the movement the muscle and blood. The
First World War triggered revolutions as a result of which three empires collapsed - the German,
the Austrian-Hungarian and the Russian. Thus favourable conditions were created for Ukraine to
make a bid for independence. On January 22 1918, the Ukrainian People's Republic was
proclaimed a sovereign state, and its first president was Mykhaylo Hrushevsky, an eminent
Ukrainian historian, political and public figure.
The period of time from 1917 to 1921 proved to be the years of great trials and tribulations for
the Ukrainian people. The Civil War raged in the land with many sides vying for power: the
Russian White Guards; the German forces; the Bolsheviks and their Red Army; the Polish army,
and the anarchists - there were too many of them for the Ukrainian armed forces to deal with. The
situation was further aggravated by rampant banditry and attempts by Britain, France, Greece
and Romania to join the fray and get whatever advantages they could out of the confusion. The
successive Ukrainian governments, fighting against overwhelming odds, succumbed and the
power was eventually seized by the Russian Bolsheviks, alas not without help from their
Ukrainian "comrades." In 1922, Ukraine became "a soviet socialist republic," one of several in
"the friendly family of nations" - the Soviet Union.
Ukraine had probably never before experienced that much horror as it did being a soviet
republic. The 1930s saw the famine of staggering proportions which in 1932-1933 took lives of
at leasts million people; hundreds of thousands intellectuals and "other subversive elements"
were either shot by Stalin's firing squads or exiled to Siberia. The idea was to "liquidate" the very
foundation, upon which the Ukrainian national identity could grow into a national liberation
movement.
In the 1940s, Ukraine was the hardest hit in the war of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union.
Three million Ukrainians died at the front, and five million perished in the areas occupied by the
Nazis. The material damage to Ukraine was estimated to constitute about one thousand billion
dollars.
The post-war reconstruction made Ukraine a rather developed industrial and agricultural land;
Ukrainian culture was allowed to develop within the boundaries set by the communist regime; on
the other hand, any deviation from the official line was fraught with danger of prosecution and
imprisonment. Dissidents and "Ukrainian nationalists" continued to be arrested, tried and sent to
concentration camps up to 1985.
The 1980s were the time of growing national awareness and social unrest. On July 1990,
Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian Parliament, adopted "The Act on State Sovereignty" which was a
first step to regaining full independence.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
On August 24 1991, Ukraine proclaimed its independence, and during the referendum held on
December 1 of the same year, the Ukrainian people confirmed their choice of independent
development by saying "yes" to it. Leonid Kravchuk was elected the first president of a newly
independent Ukraine; in 1994, he lost the election to Leonid Kuchma who was re-elected in 1998.
Ukraine faced a multitude of very difficult tasks which
had to be solved within a short period of time: a new
political system had to be built; new statehood
principles based on law had to be introduced; a new
system of national security and defence had to be
created; new relations with other countries of the
world had to be established - Ukraine wanted from
the very start to be into the European and world
community; social, economic and ecological reforms
had to be carried out; the nuclear weapons were to be
scrapped. The enormity of all these large-scale, time, labour and finance consuming tasks was
further exacerbated by the multiple crises the country was living through - economic, political and
psychological. On top of all that, Ukraine continued to deal with the consequences of the
Chornobyl disaster (21 percent of the Ukrainian territory was polluted by the fallout radioactive
materials and it affected 7 percent of the Ukrainian population).
In 1996 a new constitution was adopted; the runaway inflation, which was endemic throughout the
former Soviet Union, was curbed and the national currency, hryvnya, was launched.
Ukraine was the first among the post-soviet countries to establish working relations with the
European Union. A charter was signed with NATO in 1997. Over the years, Ukraine sent its
peacekeepers to the Balkans; it was a guarantor of peace in Moldova; Ukraine is a member of
the Council of Europe and of the Security Council of the United Nations Organization.
General foundations of political system
General foundations of political system of Ukraine are defined by its Constitution. In accordance
with its organic law, Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social and jural state.
Democratic essence of the Ukrainian state is enshrined by the constitutional provisions
concerning its form of government - a republic, governed by sovereignty of the people. State
power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches, acting within their competence.
Constitution envisages the principle of political, economic and ideological diversity of social life.
The social character of Ukrainian state results in constitutional regulation of issues related to use
of property and protection of all subjects of property right, social orientation of the economy,
equality of all subjects of property right before the law, maintenance of ecologic safety and
balance within Ukraine's territory and other socially important measures.
Jural essence of the state is supported by provisions related to supremacy of law and direct
action of constitutional norms. The state is responsible before the people for its activities.
According to the Constitution, the main task of the state is to establish and promote human rights
and freedoms.
Ukraine is a unitary state, which territory is integral and inviolable. The state has a single
citizenship. The state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.
State power institutions in Ukraine
The President of Ukraine
The Constitution of Ukraine designates the President as the Head of State, acting on its behalf.
The President is a guarantor of national sovereignty, territorial integrity, adherence to the
Constitution, human and civil rights and freedoms. The President is elected by the citizens of the
state on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through secret vote. The term of
presidential office is five years. Only a citizen of Ukraine, who was residing in Ukraine for ten
years before the elections, has voting rights and speaks state language, may be elected
President. President may hold his/her post no longer than two consecutive terms.
The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine
The only legislative body of Ukraine is the Parliament - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. People's
deputies of Ukraine are elected by the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of equal and direct
universal suffrage through secret vote. The election system is mixed - majority and proportional.
Altogether 450 deputies are elected. 225 of them are elected at single-mandate constituencies
on the basis of relative majority, and another 225 are elected proportionally at multi-mandate
national constituency from the lists of candidates coming from political parties and their election
blocks.
The powers of people's deputies of Ukraine are established by the Constitution and laws of
Ukraine. People's deputies of Ukraine may voluntarily unite themselves into deputies' groups
(factions) of no less then 25 members. Deputies' groups are formed both at party and non-party
basis. Deputies' groups formed at party basis are called 'factions'. Non-party deputies may join a
faction if they support the program of relevant party. Deputies' groups formed at non-party basis
unite deputies who share the same or similar views of national, social and economic
development.
The Government of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ministers (Government) of Ukraine is the supreme executive authority. Its actions
are based on the Constitution, laws of Ukraine and presidential orders. The Government is
responsible to the President and is controlled by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, to which it also
must report. In practice, this dependency results in presidential appointment of a Prime Minister
(with parliamentary consent). The President may also suspend Prime Minister's authorities and
discharge him/her. Upon Prime Minister's submission, the President appoints and discharges
the members of Cabinet of Ministers and other heads of central executive authorities.
Parliamentary control of the Government and its reporting to the Verkhovna Rada results is
parliamentary approval of government-submitted annual budget, parliamentary resolutions on
fulfillment of budgetary provisions, approval or rejection of governmental program and control of
government's work.
The system of judicial authority
Legal proceedings are carried out by the Constitutional Court and courts of general jurisdiction.
The supreme authority of the system of courts of general jurisdiction is the Supreme Court of
Ukraine. Legal proceedings may be carried out only by courts. Courts' jurisdiction covers all legal
relationships in the state. The system of courts of general jurisdiction is based on the principles
of territorial and special jurisdiction.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a separate entity, independent from the courts of general
jurisdiction. It cannot be used as a cassation, appeal or supervisory authority for the courts of
general jurisdiction. The activities of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine promote constitutional
control in all spheres, stabilization and strengthening of constitutional order, establishment of
principle of primacy of law and the supreme legal force of the Constitution, promotion of
constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens.
ECONOMY
Ukraine possesses a considerable economic, industrial and agricultural potential; it has gained
a wide and positive experience in such industries as metallurgical, mining, energy production,
chemical and metal-working. Grain harvests can be up to 50 million metric tons a year (Ukraine
has long been as "the bread basket of Europe").
At the same time, Ukraine has inherited from the Soviet Union a malformed and inefficient
economic complex and outdated material basis. At present, Ukraine is going through a difficult
transitory period. Structural reforms, particularly in the industrial sphere, are badly needed but
they are implemented either too slowly or not at all; industries with the closed cycle of production
are insufficient in number; the law system is flawed and because of its imperfections cannot
stimulate the growth of the private sector of the economy, or provide conditions necessary for the
successful development of small-sized and medium-sized businesses; investments are slow to
come.
In the post-soviet period, the gross national product of Ukraine has dropped by 52 percent; the
industrial production shrank by 48 percent and the agricultural production was reduced by 51
percent. Unemployment has become a major problem. According to the International Labour
organization the level of unemployment reaches 11.7 percent of the labour force, and if all other
forms of hidden unemployment are included - shorter work days, days off and vacations without
pay, etc. - then the figure will be much higher - up to 30-35 percent.
All of these factors contribute to the existence of "the shadow economy" which has reached such
proportions that now, according to some estimates, about half of the Ukrainian gross national
product is produced in the "shadow" sector which employs about 11 million people. A sharp
social polarization of the Ukrainian population has resulted, with 10 percent of the population
earning 40 percent of all the revenues. Poverty is on the rise. According to data provided by the
Administration of the President, 25 percent of the population falls into the category of "poor" and
14.7 percent can be classified as "very poor" or "destitute".
Positive changes in Ukraine's economy began in 2000 thanks to the agrarian and administrative
reforms, and to the continuing denationalization and privatization. According to the statistical
data supplied by the government of Ukraine, the industrial and agricultural production has been
growing ever since, and as a result, the income of the population has been growing as well. In the
spring of 2002 the average monthly salary constituted 400 hryvnyas. Food and consumer
industries have been improving particularly fast. Heavy-duty and super heavy aircraft, Ruslan and
Mriya, made by the Antonov Factory in Ukraine are Ukraine's foremost competitive products at
the world market. At present, a priority is given to the development of high-tech industries.
The past two years have amply demonstrated that Ukraine still has a considerable potential for
further economic growth.
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS
Ukraine has been developing its own original culture since very early times of its history. There
were periods when Ukrainian culture experienced considerable influences of other cultures,
notably those of Byzantium and of the Vikings (in the medieval times of Kyivan Rus), but basically
it preserved its general original quality. The Old Ukrainian language was used as Latin of
Eastern Europe for a period of time.
Though oral literature existed in the very early periods of Ukraine's history, written elite literature
began to develop from the end of the 10th century, after the adoption of Christianity which gave a
big boost for the development of culture in general. The churches of Kyiv - and their number -
caused admiration of foreign travellers visiting the city in the 11th and 12th centuries. The
eleventh-century Grand Duke Yarsolav the Wise founded a library which became one of the
biggest in Europe, and promoted the institution of schools, including those for girls. In later
centuries, literacy was widely spread in Ukraine.
In spite of a turbulent and dramatic history, Ukraine has preserved a cultural constant from the
early times of its existence. Book printing began in Ukraine in the 16th century and the first
establishment of higher learning - the first not only in Ukraine but in the whole of Eastern Europe -
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, sprang up in the early 17th century.
Notwithstanding its colonial status, Ukraine had a wide spectrum of art and literature which
entered a phase of stepped-up development in the 18th century. Poetic and prose works written
by Taras Shevchenko, the most revered cultural figure of Ukraine, Ivan Kotlyarevsky, Lesya
Ukrayinka, Ivan Franko, Mykhaylo Kotsyubynsky and other authors of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, were a worthy contribution to world literature.
Folk music, and later symphonic and opera music were and are among Ukraine's cultural
strengths.
TOURISM IN UKRAINE
Incoming tourism was on the rise in 2001-2002. 11.9 million
foreigners (with 5.8 million of them being tourists) from 172
countries of the world visited Ukraine in 2001. The first nine
months of 2002 saw an increase of 5 percent in foreign
tourism. Today Ukraine has 1300 hotels and hotel facilities
and 3304 health improvement and resort centres.
The countries which supply the greatest number of tourists
are: Russia, Moldova, Belarus (and other countries of the
former Soviet Union), Hungary, Poland, Germany, Israel, the
USA, Slovakia, Austria, Great Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic, Italy, France, Greece, Malta and Canada.
The areas in Ukraine with the highest tourist ratings are the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea;
the Carpathians; the most visited cities are: Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Sevastopol,
and Lviv.
RELIGION
Ukraine is tolerant to religious confessions of all kinds. The biggest
religious denominations are the Orthodox Churches of the Kyiv and
Moscow Patriarchates (the Kyiv Patriarchate, dissolved in the
Russian Empire, was re-establishe after Ukraine's independence).
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Greece-
catholic Church, banned in the Soviet Union, were revived after
Ukraine regained her independence.
51.6 percent of the Ukrainian population declare themselves
Orthodox Christians. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate has 9515 parishes (which constitutes almost 70 percent
of all the parishes) in Ukraine; The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the
Kyiv Patriarchate has 3156 parishes; The Ukrainian Autocephalous
Orthodox Church
STATE HOLIDAYS
1 January - New Year's
7 January - Christmas
8 March - International Women's Day
27 April - Orthodox Easter
1-2 May - Labour Days
9 May - Victory in Europe Day
15 June -Holy Trinity
28 June - Constitution Day
24 August - Independence Day
There is a number of other Christian confessions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical
Christian Baptist, and others; Judaism and Islam are practised religions as well.
* * *
Ukraine, with a territory of 603.7 thousand sq kilometres and a
population of 48.4 million people, is one of the biggest countries of
Europe. Administratively, Ukraine is made up of 24 Oblasts and one
Autonomous Republic (Crimea). The capital city is Kyiv.
Ukraine is bordered by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and
Moldova on the west and south-west, and by Belarus and Russia on
the north and north-east; on the south, Ukraine is bordered by the
Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The longest river is Dnipro, and the biggest mountain chain is the Carpathians. It is in the
Carpathians that the geographical centre of Europe is located.
Among 454 cities and towns of Ukraine the biggest are: Kyiv (population 2.6 million); Kharkiv
(population 1.6 million); Dnepropetrovsk (population 1.1 million); Odesa (population 1.1 million);
Donetsk (population 1.1 million), and Lviv (population 802 thousand).
67 percent of the Ukrainians live in towns, and 33 percent live in the countryside, with the ethnic
Ukrainians making up 80 percent of the population; the rest are Russians, Belorussians,
Romanians, Tartars, Jews, Germans, Bulgarians and others, 126 ethnic groups in all.
CLIMATE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Ukraine's climate is temperate continental, and subtropical at the southern coast of the Crimea.
The mean temperature in January is -5°C (+ 23 F) and +20°C (68 F) in July.
95 percent of the Ukrainian territory is spread out over the Eastern European Plain; 5 percent of
the territory is taken up by mountainous areas; 14 percent of the land is covered with forests; 4
percent - water reservoirs; 1.6 percent - swamps. 71 percent of all the land in Ukraine is arable,
with 12 million hectares (30 million acres) having the fertile black soil (chornozem). 5 percent of
the world's mineral resources are concentrated in Ukraine (coal; iron and manganese ores;
uranium; graphite, and rock-salt).
BRIEF HISTORY
The Ukrainians are believed to have descended from those
Indo-Europeans who settled in Eastern Europe. The
available archaeological evidence suggests that roots of the
pre-Ukrainians may be found in the Trypillya culture which
dates from the fifth to third millennium BC; there may be
some links to other ancient cultures which flourished in the
territory of the present-day Ukraine, including the mysterious
Scythians.
The pre-Ukrainians maintained trade and culture contacts with
the ancient Greek city-states which sprang upon the shores of
the southern Crimea in the 7th - 6th centuries BC; later, a part
of the Crimea was included into the Kingdom of Bosporus
which for a period of time was a major rival of Rome in the
Black Sea area. The ancient Romans established their
outposts in the Crimea, to be succeeded by the Goths and the
Huns.
At the end of the tenth century, the city of Kyiv, the date of
whose foundation is uncertain (it is safe to place the foundation of Kyiv not
later than in the fifth century AD but it may be much older), became the capital of a powerful state,
Kyivan Rus. It stretched as far north as the Baltic, as far south as the Black Sea, as far west as
the Carpathians, and as far east as the Volga.
In 988, Ukraine-Rus was converted to Christianity, and the
Christian culture was conducive to the rapid development of towns.
It was in the 11th century that the language spoken in Ukraine-
Rus began to acquire features which later would develop into
Ukrainian.
Kyivan Rus was a bulwark of European civilization, a sort of its
easternmost UltimaThule, at the edge of the Great Steppe, which
was roomed by nomads who kept making incursions into the
Ukrainian-Rus lands, some of which were widely disruptive and
destructive.
The 13th century saw a devastating invasion of the Mongols which
dealt a mortal blow to Kyivan Rus which had already been
weakened by internal strife, with local rulers vying for power over Kyiv.
Tragic as the invasion was, it did not destroy the Slavic culture as it was upheld in the
Halytsko-Volynske Principality in the western part of what used to be Kyivan Rus. This principality
proved to be strong enough to withstand the pressure both from the east and from the west,
fending off the attempts of the western crusaders to subjugate it. One of its rulers, Danylo, was
crowned a king, and his kingdom preserved, to a great extent, the cultural heritage of Kyivan Rus.
A considerable part of Ukraine later came under the domination of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
but preserved much of its cultural originality. The official language of Lithuania in the 15th century
was what is called "Old Ukrainian;" the city of Kyiv acquired the status of a free city which it was
granted under the Magdeburg Law.
Poland, Muscow and Turkey, attracted by the fertility of the land and advantageous geographical
position of Ukraine, were the neighbours that wanted to establish their control over parts of this
country. The Zaporizhian Sich which emerged as a sort of a Cossack state in the area around
the southern reaches of the Dnipro River, gradually acquired the status of an upholder of freedom
and cultural traditions. In the mid-seventeenth century, after a period of wars of independence
fought under the leadership of Hetman (military and state leader) Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukraine
once again emerged as an independent state formation.
In 1654, the hetman, in the face of an imminent invasion from Turkey and Poland, was forced to
sign a treaty in the town of Pereyaslavl with Russia which put Ukraine under the protection of the
Russian tsar. As later events showed, it proved to be a turning - and tragic - point in the history of
Ukraine - Russia was turning into an empire and an independent Ukraine was not something it
would tolerate. Only five years after the treaty in Pereyaslavl was signed (the treaty gave
considerable rights and privileges to the Ukrainian land owners and nobles, Ukrainian clergy and
autonomy for the Zaporizhian Sich Cossacks), a much stricter control was established by Russia
over the hetman and the Cossack starshyna (self-government); the number of Russian troops
stationed in Ukraine also grew considerably.
In the early 18th century, an attempt of Hetman Ivan Mazepa to break free from the Russian
clutches badly failed. The last vestiges of autonomy were done away with; no traces of former
liberties were left and serfdom was introduced. At the end of the 18th century, Ukraine was torn
apart by Russia and Austria.
In spite of the loss of statehood, prominent cultural figures of Ukraine, and later an ever widening
circle of Ukrainian intellectuals, never abandoned the hope of restoring Ukraine's independence.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw an upsurge of activity in the national liberation
movement and a growing national awareness gave the movement the muscle and blood. The
First World War triggered revolutions as a result of which three empires collapsed - the German,
the Austrian-Hungarian and the Russian. Thus favourable conditions were created for Ukraine to
make a bid for independence. On January 22 1918, the Ukrainian People's Republic was
proclaimed a sovereign state, and its first president was Mykhaylo Hrushevsky, an eminent
Ukrainian historian, political and public figure.
The period of time from 1917 to 1921 proved to be the years of great trials and tribulations for
the Ukrainian people. The Civil War raged in the land with many sides vying for power: the
Russian White Guards; the German forces; the Bolsheviks and their Red Army; the Polish army,
and the anarchists - there were too many of them for the Ukrainian armed forces to deal with. The
situation was further aggravated by rampant banditry and attempts by Britain, France, Greece
and Romania to join the fray and get whatever advantages they could out of the confusion. The
successive Ukrainian governments, fighting against overwhelming odds, succumbed and the
power was eventually seized by the Russian Bolsheviks, alas not without help from their
Ukrainian "comrades." In 1922, Ukraine became "a soviet socialist republic," one of several in
"the friendly family of nations" - the Soviet Union.
Ukraine had probably never before experienced that much horror as it did being a soviet
republic. The 1930s saw the famine of staggering proportions which in 1932-1933 took lives of
at leasts million people; hundreds of thousands intellectuals and "other subversive elements"
were either shot by Stalin's firing squads or exiled to Siberia. The idea was to "liquidate" the very
foundation, upon which the Ukrainian national identity could grow into a national liberation
movement.
In the 1940s, Ukraine was the hardest hit in the war of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union.
Three million Ukrainians died at the front, and five million perished in the areas occupied by the
Nazis. The material damage to Ukraine was estimated to constitute about one thousand billion
dollars.
The post-war reconstruction made Ukraine a rather developed industrial and agricultural land;
Ukrainian culture was allowed to develop within the boundaries set by the communist regime; on
the other hand, any deviation from the official line was fraught with danger of prosecution and
imprisonment. Dissidents and "Ukrainian nationalists" continued to be arrested, tried and sent to
concentration camps up to 1985.
The 1980s were the time of growing national awareness and social unrest. On July 1990,
Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian Parliament, adopted "The Act on State Sovereignty" which was a
first step to regaining full independence.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
On August 24 1991, Ukraine proclaimed its independence, and during the referendum held on
December 1 of the same year, the Ukrainian people confirmed their choice of independent
development by saying "yes" to it. Leonid Kravchuk was elected the first president of a newly
independent Ukraine; in 1994, he lost the election to Leonid Kuchma who was re-elected in 1998.
Ukraine faced a multitude of very difficult tasks which
had to be solved within a short period of time: a new
political system had to be built; new statehood
principles based on law had to be introduced; a new
system of national security and defence had to be
created; new relations with other countries of the
world had to be established - Ukraine wanted from
the very start to be into the European and world
community; social, economic and ecological reforms
had to be carried out; the nuclear weapons were to be
scrapped. The enormity of all these large-scale, time, labour and finance consuming tasks was
further exacerbated by the multiple crises the country was living through - economic, political and
psychological. On top of all that, Ukraine continued to deal with the consequences of the
Chornobyl disaster (21 percent of the Ukrainian territory was polluted by the fallout radioactive
materials and it affected 7 percent of the Ukrainian population).
In 1996 a new constitution was adopted; the runaway inflation, which was endemic throughout the
former Soviet Union, was curbed and the national currency, hryvnya, was launched.
Ukraine was the first among the post-soviet countries to establish working relations with the
European Union. A charter was signed with NATO in 1997. Over the years, Ukraine sent its
peacekeepers to the Balkans; it was a guarantor of peace in Moldova; Ukraine is a member of
the Council of Europe and of the Security Council of the United Nations Organization.
General foundations of political system
General foundations of political system of Ukraine are defined by its Constitution. In accordance
with its organic law, Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social and jural state.
Democratic essence of the Ukrainian state is enshrined by the constitutional provisions
concerning its form of government - a republic, governed by sovereignty of the people. State
power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches, acting within their competence.
Constitution envisages the principle of political, economic and ideological diversity of social life.
The social character of Ukrainian state results in constitutional regulation of issues related to use
of property and protection of all subjects of property right, social orientation of the economy,
equality of all subjects of property right before the law, maintenance of ecologic safety and
balance within Ukraine's territory and other socially important measures.
Jural essence of the state is supported by provisions related to supremacy of law and direct
action of constitutional norms. The state is responsible before the people for its activities.
According to the Constitution, the main task of the state is to establish and promote human rights
and freedoms.
Ukraine is a unitary state, which territory is integral and inviolable. The state has a single
citizenship. The state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.
State power institutions in Ukraine
The President of Ukraine
The Constitution of Ukraine designates the President as the Head of State, acting on its behalf.
The President is a guarantor of national sovereignty, territorial integrity, adherence to the
Constitution, human and civil rights and freedoms. The President is elected by the citizens of the
state on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through secret vote. The term of
presidential office is five years. Only a citizen of Ukraine, who was residing in Ukraine for ten
years before the elections, has voting rights and speaks state language, may be elected
President. President may hold his/her post no longer than two consecutive terms.
The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine
The only legislative body of Ukraine is the Parliament - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. People's
deputies of Ukraine are elected by the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of equal and direct
universal suffrage through secret vote. The election system is mixed - majority and proportional.
Altogether 450 deputies are elected. 225 of them are elected at single-mandate constituencies
on the basis of relative majority, and another 225 are elected proportionally at multi-mandate
national constituency from the lists of candidates coming from political parties and their election
blocks.
The powers of people's deputies of Ukraine are established by the Constitution and laws of
Ukraine. People's deputies of Ukraine may voluntarily unite themselves into deputies' groups
(factions) of no less then 25 members. Deputies' groups are formed both at party and non-party
basis. Deputies' groups formed at party basis are called 'factions'. Non-party deputies may join a
faction if they support the program of relevant party. Deputies' groups formed at non-party basis
unite deputies who share the same or similar views of national, social and economic
development.
The Government of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ministers (Government) of Ukraine is the supreme executive authority. Its actions
are based on the Constitution, laws of Ukraine and presidential orders. The Government is
responsible to the President and is controlled by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, to which it also
must report. In practice, this dependency results in presidential appointment of a Prime Minister
(with parliamentary consent). The President may also suspend Prime Minister's authorities and
discharge him/her. Upon Prime Minister's submission, the President appoints and discharges
the members of Cabinet of Ministers and other heads of central executive authorities.
Parliamentary control of the Government and its reporting to the Verkhovna Rada results is
parliamentary approval of government-submitted annual budget, parliamentary resolutions on
fulfillment of budgetary provisions, approval or rejection of governmental program and control of
government's work.
The system of judicial authority
Legal proceedings are carried out by the Constitutional Court and courts of general jurisdiction.
The supreme authority of the system of courts of general jurisdiction is the Supreme Court of
Ukraine. Legal proceedings may be carried out only by courts. Courts' jurisdiction covers all legal
relationships in the state. The system of courts of general jurisdiction is based on the principles
of territorial and special jurisdiction.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a separate entity, independent from the courts of general
jurisdiction. It cannot be used as a cassation, appeal or supervisory authority for the courts of
general jurisdiction. The activities of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine promote constitutional
control in all spheres, stabilization and strengthening of constitutional order, establishment of
principle of primacy of law and the supreme legal force of the Constitution, promotion of
constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens.
ECONOMY
Ukraine possesses a considerable economic, industrial and agricultural potential; it has gained
a wide and positive experience in such industries as metallurgical, mining, energy production,
chemical and metal-working. Grain harvests can be up to 50 million metric tons a year (Ukraine
has long been as "the bread basket of Europe").
At the same time, Ukraine has inherited from the Soviet Union a malformed and inefficient
economic complex and outdated material basis. At present, Ukraine is going through a difficult
transitory period. Structural reforms, particularly in the industrial sphere, are badly needed but
they are implemented either too slowly or not at all; industries with the closed cycle of production
are insufficient in number; the law system is flawed and because of its imperfections cannot
stimulate the growth of the private sector of the economy, or provide conditions necessary for the
successful development of small-sized and medium-sized businesses; investments are slow to
come.
In the post-soviet period, the gross national product of Ukraine has dropped by 52 percent; the
industrial production shrank by 48 percent and the agricultural production was reduced by 51
percent. Unemployment has become a major problem. According to the International Labour
organization the level of unemployment reaches 11.7 percent of the labour force, and if all other
forms of hidden unemployment are included - shorter work days, days off and vacations without
pay, etc. - then the figure will be much higher - up to 30-35 percent.
All of these factors contribute to the existence of "the shadow economy" which has reached such
proportions that now, according to some estimates, about half of the Ukrainian gross national
product is produced in the "shadow" sector which employs about 11 million people. A sharp
social polarization of the Ukrainian population has resulted, with 10 percent of the population
earning 40 percent of all the revenues. Poverty is on the rise. According to data provided by the
Administration of the President, 25 percent of the population falls into the category of "poor" and
14.7 percent can be classified as "very poor" or "destitute".
Positive changes in Ukraine's economy began in 2000 thanks to the agrarian and administrative
reforms, and to the continuing denationalization and privatization. According to the statistical
data supplied by the government of Ukraine, the industrial and agricultural production has been
growing ever since, and as a result, the income of the population has been growing as well. In the
spring of 2002 the average monthly salary constituted 400 hryvnyas. Food and consumer
industries have been improving particularly fast. Heavy-duty and super heavy aircraft, Ruslan and
Mriya, made by the Antonov Factory in Ukraine are Ukraine's foremost competitive products at
the world market. At present, a priority is given to the development of high-tech industries.
The past two years have amply demonstrated that Ukraine still has a considerable potential for
further economic growth.
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS
Ukraine has been developing its own original culture since very early times of its history. There
were periods when Ukrainian culture experienced considerable influences of other cultures,
notably those of Byzantium and of the Vikings (in the medieval times of Kyivan Rus), but basically
it preserved its general original quality. The Old Ukrainian language was used as Latin of
Eastern Europe for a period of time.
Though oral literature existed in the very early periods of Ukraine's history, written elite literature
began to develop from the end of the 10th century, after the adoption of Christianity which gave a
big boost for the development of culture in general. The churches of Kyiv - and their number -
caused admiration of foreign travellers visiting the city in the 11th and 12th centuries. The
eleventh-century Grand Duke Yarsolav the Wise founded a library which became one of the
biggest in Europe, and promoted the institution of schools, including those for girls. In later
centuries, literacy was widely spread in Ukraine.
In spite of a turbulent and dramatic history, Ukraine has preserved a cultural constant from the
early times of its existence. Book printing began in Ukraine in the 16th century and the first
establishment of higher learning - the first not only in Ukraine but in the whole of Eastern Europe -
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, sprang up in the early 17th century.
Notwithstanding its colonial status, Ukraine had a wide spectrum of art and literature which
entered a phase of stepped-up development in the 18th century. Poetic and prose works written
by Taras Shevchenko, the most revered cultural figure of Ukraine, Ivan Kotlyarevsky, Lesya
Ukrayinka, Ivan Franko, Mykhaylo Kotsyubynsky and other authors of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, were a worthy contribution to world literature.
Folk music, and later symphonic and opera music were and are among Ukraine's cultural
strengths.
TOURISM IN UKRAINE
Incoming tourism was on the rise in 2001-2002. 11.9 million
foreigners (with 5.8 million of them being tourists) from 172
countries of the world visited Ukraine in 2001. The first nine
months of 2002 saw an increase of 5 percent in foreign
tourism. Today Ukraine has 1300 hotels and hotel facilities
and 3304 health improvement and resort centres.
The countries which supply the greatest number of tourists
are: Russia, Moldova, Belarus (and other countries of the
former Soviet Union), Hungary, Poland, Germany, Israel, the
USA, Slovakia, Austria, Great Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic, Italy, France, Greece, Malta and Canada.
The areas in Ukraine with the highest tourist ratings are the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea;
the Carpathians; the most visited cities are: Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Sevastopol,
and Lviv.
RELIGION
Ukraine is tolerant to religious confessions of all kinds. The biggest
religious denominations are the Orthodox Churches of the Kyiv and
Moscow Patriarchates (the Kyiv Patriarchate, dissolved in the
Russian Empire, was re-establishe after Ukraine's independence).
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Greece-
catholic Church, banned in the Soviet Union, were revived after
Ukraine regained her independence.
51.6 percent of the Ukrainian population declare themselves
Orthodox Christians. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate has 9515 parishes (which constitutes almost 70 percent
of all the parishes) in Ukraine; The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the
Kyiv Patriarchate has 3156 parishes; The Ukrainian Autocephalous
Orthodox Church
STATE HOLIDAYS
1 January - New Year's
7 January - Christmas
8 March - International Women's Day
27 April - Orthodox Easter
1-2 May - Labour Days
9 May - Victory in Europe Day
15 June -Holy Trinity
28 June - Constitution Day
24 August - Independence Day
There is a number of other Christian confessions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical
Christian Baptist, and others; Judaism and Islam are practised religions as well.
* * *
Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Singapore
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