According to microedu, Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, legal state. The 1996 Constitution is in force.
Administrative division: Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) and 24 regions – Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Vinnitsa, Cherkasy, Poltava, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Odessa, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Nikolaev, Kherson, Zaporozhye, two cities of republican significance – Kyiv and Sevastopol, whose rights are equated to the rights of administrative regions. The status of the city of Kyiv is also determined by a special law on the capital. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea and administrative regions are subdivided into districts (there are 490 in total). There are 447 cities in the country, 167 of them are regional subordination. The largest cities are subdivided into administrative regions (121). In rural areas, the main administrative units are villages and urban-type settlements (there are 904 of them). The largest cities (million people): Kyiv, Kharkov (1.5), Dnepropetrovsk (1.1), Donetsk (1.0), Odessa (1.0), as well as cities with a population of 500 to 1 million people. – Zaporozhye, Krivoy Rog, Lugansk, Lvov, Nikolaev, Mariupol.
The basic principles of the state structure are defined in the Constitution of Ukraine. A republican form of government was established. State power is exercised on the principles of division into legislative, executive and judicial branches, each of which operates within its competence. Ukraine is a unitary state whose territory is integral and indivisible. Established a single citizenship.
The head of state is the president (Leonid Kuchma, 1994-99, from 1999 to the present). Elected by the citizens of the country on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot, for a period of 5 years. May be in power for no more than two terms (10 years). A citizen of Ukraine who has lived in it for at least 10 years before the election date, has the right to vote and speaks Ukrainian can be elected President. The first president of independent Ukraine was L. Kravchuk (1991–94), who, along with B. Yeltsin and S. Shushkevich, signed the Belovezhskaya Treaty (December 1991), which legally terminated the existence of the USSR. current
President Kuchma began market reforms in Ukraine, introduced the national currency – the hryvnia (1996), headed the Council of CIS Heads of State in 2003 (previously it was chaired only by the presidents of the Russian Federation).
The supreme body of legislative power is the Verkhovna Rada (VR), a unicameral parliament. People’s deputies in the Verkhovna Rada are elected on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot, for a term of 4 years. According to the Law on Elections (1997), a majoritarian-proportional system operates: out of a total of 450 deputies, half are elected in single-member constituencies on the principle of a relative majority of voters (225 deputies), and half are elected on national electoral lists from political parties and electoral blocs in a multi-mandate nationwide electoral district on the basis of proportional representation (225 people). National lists are formed only by registered parties and blocs.
Elections to the current Verkhovna Rada of the 4th convocation were held on March 31, 2002. The number of leading parties that overcame the 4% threshold included: V. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine Bloc, the Communist Party of Ukraine, the For a United Ukraine Bloc, the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) – SDPU (o). Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (speaker) – V. Lytvyn (since May 26, 2002).
The highest body of executive power is the cabinet of ministers (government). He is responsible to the president, controlled and accountable to the Verkhovna Rada. The President appoints the Prime Minister after the approval of the candidate in the Verkhovna Rada, approves government resolutions and makes decisions on the resignation of the Cabinet. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, the President appoints and dismisses members of the government and heads of other central executive bodies. Parliament approves the country’s draft budget developed by the government, makes decisions on its implementation, approves or rejects government activity programs, controls its current work. The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Viktor Yanukovych, the former head of the Donetsk region (approved by the Verkhovna Rada on November 21, 2002), 234 people’s deputies voted for him.
The regions of Ukraine have their own legislative and executive power: regional councils of people’s deputies and heads of regional administrations (governors) appointed by the president of the country. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea has its own Constitution, its own parliament and government of autonomy (Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), subordinate to the government of Ukraine, and adopts an independent budget.
More than 50 parties and movements have been registered. The main political parties and their leaders: the Communist Party of Ukraine (first secretary of the Central Committee – P.N. Symonenko), the Socialist Party of Ukraine (chairman – A. Moroz), the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (leader – V. Medvedchuk), “ Labor Ukraine” (leader – S. Tigipko), Party of Regions (leader – N. Azarov, now First Deputy Prime Minister); People’s Democratic Party (V. Pustovoitenko), Agrarian Party (M. Gladiy), Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (A. Kinakh, chairman of USPP), Green Party (leader V. Kononov), Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (N Vitrenko), People’s Movement of Ukraine (the first chairman was V. Chornovil), Liberal Party of Ukraine (chairman V. Shcherban), Ukrainian Republican Party (chairman B. Yaroshinsky),
Since the declaration of independence, Ukraine has been consistently pursuing a foreign policy aimed at strengthening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, at expanding the recognition of Ukraine in the world and increasing its authority among the international community.
