Ukraine: Government

Ukraine Government Profile 2012

The legislature, called the People's Rada or Supreme Council, has 450 members, who are elected for terms of four years. Ukraine is a republic under the 1996 constitution. It has a democratic political system. The president is the head of state , who is directly elected for a term of five years. The government of Ukraine has an executive branch, featuring a president and a prime minister, and a legislative branch, consisting of a national parliament. The president is commander-in-chief of the military and has the right to issue orders, called edicts, without the approval of the parliament in some matters.

The prime minister, who is appointed by the president with the approval of the People's Rada, is the head of government. The prime minister, who heads a Cabinet, is named by the Parliament, and in his turn, selects the Cabinet members. The State Duma, which is the council of the Ukrainian government, is the advisory body for matters regarding the economy, humanitarian issues, law, and science and technology.

Ukraine has a number of political parties. The Communist Party, is a major party, and favors government control of the economy, and union with Russia. The largest democratic party, the People's Movement of Ukraine, also known as Rukh, is a moderate nationalist party that favors economic reform and rejects renewed Russian control.

The highest court in Ukraine is the Supreme Court. Ukraine also has a Constitutional Court that decides questions about the constitutionality of laws. There are also regional supreme courts, as well as district courts that are known as people's courts.

Country name

Conventional long form:

none

Conventional short form:

Ukraine

Local long form:

none

Local short form:

Ukraine

Government type:

republic

Capital

Name:

Kyiv (Kiev)

Geographic coordinates:

50 26 N, 30 31 E

Time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:

24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k, Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr

Independence:

16 August 1960 (from the UK); note - Turkish Cypriots proclaimed self-rule on 13 February 1975 and independence in 1983, but these proclamations are only recognized by Turkey

National holiday:

Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day

Constitution:

adopted 28 June 1996

Legal system:

based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

Chief of state:

President Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 25 February 2010)

head of government:

Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV (since 11 March 2010); First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy KLYUYEV (since 11 March 2010); Deputy Prime Ministers Borys KOLESNIKOV, Volodymyr SEMYNOZHENKO, Volodymyr SIVKOVYCH, Viktor SLAUTA, Serhiy TIHIPKO, Viktor TYKHONOV (all since 11 March 2010)

Cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers selected by the prime minister; the only exceptions are the foreign and defense ministers, who are chosen by the president

Elections:

president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 17 January 2010 with runoff on 7 February 2010 (next to be held in 2015); under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime minister

Election results:

Viktor YANUKOVYCH elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YANUKOVYCH 48.95%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO 45.5%

Note:

there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president \";;;;;; Government"

Legislative branch:

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders :

Christian Democratic Union [Volodymyr STRETOVYCH]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; European Party of Ukraine [Mykola KATERYNCHUK]; Fatherland Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]; Forward Ukraine! [Viktor MUSIYAKA]; Front of Change [Arseniy YATSENYUK]; Labor Party of Ukraine [Mykola SYROTA]; Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Party of the Defenders of the Fatherland [Yuriy Karmazin]; People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; Peoples' Self-Defense [Yuriy LUTSENKO]; PORA! (It's Time!) party [Vladyslav KASKIV]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party of Regions [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Sobor [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO]; Social Democratic Party [Yevhen KORNICHUK]; Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o) [Yuriy ZAHORODNIY]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ]; Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; United Center [Ihor KRILL]; Viche [Inna BOHOSLOVSKA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Aleksandr CHERNENKO]

International organization participation:

Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS; has not signed the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in the meetings, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US

consulate(s) general:

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Diplomatic representation from the US

Embassy:

Mailing address:

Flag description:

two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky