Theme 16. Independent Ukraine between 1991 and the 2000s

The purpose of the theme is to give understanding of the progress of independent Ukraine throughout two decades, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The theme's task includes the describing of economical, political and social development of independent Ukraine with its problems and successes.

The main topics of the theme are as follows: Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the first Ukrainian President; the official national symbols; the Crimean Republic; the political parties and public organizations of Ukraine; the defect of new State power structure; the Constitution of Ukraine; the action "Ukraine without Kuchma"; the Orange Revolution; Viktor Yushchenko - the third President of Ukraine; Viktor Yanukovych - the fourth President of Ukraine; the successes of foreign policy of Ukraine; the economy of independent Ukraine.

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the first Ukrainian President. In March of 1990 450 deputies were elected to the Parliament named Verkhov­na Rada of Ukraine. Surprisingly, there were a lot of Communists. On De­cember 1, 1991, Leonid Kravchuk, the former Communist, was elected the President.

In October of 1991 the Rada voted the Law "On Citizenship" of Ukraine [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38; 40].

The official national symbols. On January 15, 1992, Verkhovna Rada adopted the score for the national anthem "Shche ne vmerla Ukrayina" ("Uk­raine has not yet perished"). It was the music composed by Mykhailo Ver- bytskyi (1815 - 1870). The text of the anthem, the first verse and the refrain written by Pavlo Chubynskyi (1839 - 1884), was finally adopted on March 6, 2003. On January 28, 1992, the blue-and-yellow flag was established as the national one. The flag colours symbolises the peace-loving Ukrainian state through the colours of a clear sky and a field of wheat. On February 19, 1992, Verkhovna Rada fixed the Trident - Ukraine’s Small Coat of Arms.

The defect of new State power structure. The subtantial defect of new State power structure lied in fact that there was not clearly defined the authorities of three power branches: the legislative (Parliament), the exe­cutive (President and Cabinet of Ministers), and the judicial (Constitutional Court of Ukraine) [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

The Crimean Republic. In 1990 the Crimean Republic gained autonomy within Ukraine. Welcomed by the Ukrainian Government the Tatars began to return home from Asia and the Caucasus, where they had been deported to by the Soviet Government in 1944 [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28].

The political parties and public organizations of Ukraine. In June of 1992 Verkhovna Rada declared the Law "On Civic Associations", which allowed political parties and public organizations in Ukraine. Shortly after the declaring Law by State, a lot of small parties were registered in Ukraine. They started political competitions with the great Ukrainian parties known since 1989 - 1991. The great parties were, and still are, the Socialist Party of Ukraine, the Liberal Party of Ukraine, and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists. In June of 1993 the Communist Party of Ukraine was renewed. In February of 1996 the People's Democratic Party of Ukraine appeared, in the second half of the 1990s it was the party in power, supporting the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.

On the whole, by 1998 fifty political parties participated in the political life of Ukraine [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28].

Ukrainian army. On December 6, 1991, the Law "On the Armed Forces of Ukraine" obliged soldiers and officers of the Ukrainian army to give the oath of allegiance to Ukraine. On October 19, 1993, the Parliament adopted the military doctrine of Ukraine, which has still been actual.

Leonid Kuchma is the second President of Ukraine. In July of 1994, Leonid Kuchma, a former director of a Dnipropetrovsk plant, was elected the President of Ukraine. In November of 1999 L. Kuchma was re-elected on the President post [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

The Constitution of Ukraine. Under insistence of L. Kuchma, on June 28, 1996, Verkhovna Rada voted the Constitution of Ukraine that declared Ukraine the democratic, social, legal, unitary and united Republic. The divi­sion of power into three branches: the legislative (Parliament), the executive (the President and Cabinet of Ministers), and the judicial (Constitutional Court of Ukraine) was also fixed [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

The action "Ukraine without Kuchma". In 2001 due to the killing of a journalist Georgii Gongadze, L. Kuchma was suspected to be the chief organizer of this journalist murder. Having known about this, an opposition charged the mass actions under the slogan "Ukraine without Kuchma". Between November and December 2004 this social protest developed into the so-called Orange Revolution [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

The Orange Revolution. The Revolution was preceded by the presi­dential election. On April 14, 2004, the Party of Regions, the party in power created in 1997, proposed a candidate for President the Party leader Viktor Yanukovych, who had been the Prime Minister since 2002. On July 4 in Kyiv Viktor Yushchenko, the informal leader of the Ukrainian opposition coalition ("Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense Bloc"), proclaimed the starting of his running for Ukrainian President.

In October of 2004, as soon as the presidential election had started, the Party in power, the candidat of which was V. Yanukovych, and state officers began meddling into the election process. They used administrative pressure on voters, deceived or bribed citizens, falsified electoral bulletins, and etc.

At last, the Supreme Court of Ukraine decided that the Central Election Commission had broken the Law. The third round of the elections started. On January 20, 2005, Viktor Yushchenko officially won this round [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

Viktor Yushchenko is the third President of Ukraine. Thus, on the wave of the Orange Revolution, Viktor Yushchenko was elected the Pre­sident. He promised to keep the democracy, develop the economy, and support the Ukrainian culture. Later on, he passed the Law recognizing the Holodomor of 1932 - 1933 the genocide of the Ukrainian people [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

Viktor Yanukovych is the fourth President of Ukraine. After Viktor Yushchenko, in January of 2010 Viktor Yanukovych, the opponent of the Orange Revolution, was elected the President. The political program of this President based on the notions about the first-priority of reforms in the economical sphere [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

Later on, in media, including international one, this President was imagined as a reactionary and persecutor of those politicians, who were opposed to his authoritarian regime. On the whole the Presidentship of V. Yanukovych became known as the time of folding the gains of the Orange Revolution.

Meanwhile, the Yanukovych’s economical reforms have not still reached the results he planned.

The economy of independent Ukraine.

In 1991, as soon as the Soviet Union had collapsed, rich persons, many of which were former cooperative directors, Communist party leaders and state officers, started to buy the enterprises from the State practically for low prices. The process of transferring the State property into private hands is defined as privatization. It is known that in Ukraine between 1992 and 1994 years 11 000 enterprises were privatized. This was one of the ways by which the economy of Ukraine was evolving from the command-and-administrative to the more effective one, the market economy that is grounded on a competition and free-trade.

In the rural areas in 1992 the property of collective farms and state farms was divided into shares among private owners. Hence, a lot of former Soviet agricultural enterprises were transformed by private owners into joint­stock companies. However, in the hard conditions of inflation these joint-stock companies more and more came to decline. The number of private farmers was and still is not large in Ukraine.

In 1992, the increasing food prices caused the strong strike of miners in Donbas. Although in 1990 the State had introduced the national currency (one-time coupon called karbovanets), in 1993 the inflation was the highest in the world. The prices grew very rapidly. In addition, the decreasing by Russia a volume of gas imports caused the energy crisis in Ukraine.

Between 1995 and 1996 the National Bank of Ukraine and the Government stopped the falling of the karbovanets and in September 1996 under supervision of the President L. Kuchma a new national currency, the hryvnia, was established. Every 100 000 karbovanetses were exchanged by one hryvnia due to which the rapid growing of inflation was stopped [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

The successes of foreign policy of Ukraine.

On July 9, 1997, in Madrid, the leaders of 16 States and the General Secretary of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Javier Solana concluded with the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma the "Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine".

From 1999 to 2001 Ukraine was a non-permanent member of the United Nation Security Council, the body of that international organization [3; 5; 11; 13; 17; 28; 38].

Questions

1. What were the preconditions of the proclamation of the Sovereignty and the Independence of Ukraine?

2. What is the historical importance of the Constitution of Ukraine?

3. Describe the development of the economy of Ukraine in 1990s and the early 21th century.

4. What are the official national symbols of Ukraine?

5. What are the State power structure of Ukraine?

6. What were the reasons and results of the Orange Revolution?

7. What were the successes of foreign policy of the independent Ukraine?

8. Describe the foreign policy, which Ukraine makes toward Western Europe.