Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, half of the Rada's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 29 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2002); note—repeat elections continuing to fill vacant seats
election results: percent of vote by party (for parties clearing 4% hurdle on 29 March 1998)—Communist 24.7%, Rukh 9.4%, Socialist/Peasant 8.6%, Green 5.3%, People's Democratic Party 5.0%, Hromada 4.7%, Progressive Socialist 4.0%, United Social Democratic Party 4.0%; seats by party (as of 8 July 1998)—Communist 120, People's Democratic Party 88, Rukh 47, Hromada 45, Socialist/Peasant 33, United Social Democratic 25, Green 24, Progressive Socialist 14, independents 26, vacant 28

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Ukraine [Petro SYMONENKO]; Hromad [Pavlo LAZARENKO]; Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh [Vyacheslav CHORNOVIL, chairman]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Peasant Party of Ukraine or SelPU [Serhiy DOVAN]; People's Democratic Party or NDPU [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO, chairman]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine [Vasyl ONOPENKO]; Agrarian Party of Ukraine or APU [Kateryna VASHCHUK]; Liberal Party of Ukraine or LPU [Volodymyr SHCHERBAN]; Green Party of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, leader]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]
note: and numerous smaller parties

Political pressure groups and leaders: New Ukraine (Nova Ukrayina); Congress of National Democratic Forces

International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUA, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNPREDEP, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Anton Denysovych BUTEYKO
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606
FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817
consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Steven Karl PIFER
embassy: 10 Yuria Kotsubynskoho, 254053 Kiev 53
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [380] (44) 246-9750
FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky

Economy

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 equipment and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas. Shortly after the implosion of the USSR 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 in 1992-98 fell to less than half the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Since his election in July 1994, President KUCHMA has pushed economic reforms, maintained financial discipline, and tried to remove almost all remaining controls over prices and foreign trade. The onset of the financial crisis in Russia dashed Ukraine's hopes for its first year of economic growth in 1998 due to a sharp fall in export revenue and reduced domestic demand. Although administrative currency controls will be lifted in early 1999, they are likely to be reimposed when the hryvnia next comes under pressure. The currency is only likely to collapse further if Ukraine abandons tight monetary policies or threatens default. Despite increasing pressure from the IMF to accelerate reform, significant economic restructuring remains unlikely in 1999.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$108.5 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: -1.7% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$2,200 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 14%
industry: 30%
services: 56% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 50% (1997 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 20.8% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (yearend 1998 est.)

Labor force: 22.8 million (yearend 1997)

Labor force—by occupation: industry and construction 32%, agriculture and forestry 24%, health, education, and culture 17%, trade and distribution 8%, transport and communication 7%, other 12% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 3.7% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1998)

Budget:
revenues: $18 billion
expenditures: $21 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Industries: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food-processing (especially sugar)

Industrial production growth rate: -1.5% (1998 est.)

Electricity—production: 171.8 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil