, Volyns'ka
(Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya),
Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr); note - when using a place name with an
adjectival ending 's'ka' or 'z'ka,' the word Oblast' should be added
to the place name

note: oblasts have the administrative center name following in
parentheses

Independence: 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 August (1991)

Constitution: adopted 28 June 1996

Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of
legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since
19 July 1994)

head of government: Prime Minister Anatoliy KINAKH (since 29 May
2001), First Deputy Prime Minister Oleh DUBYNA (since 29 May 2001)

cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and
approved by the Supreme Council

note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC
originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council, but
significantly revamped and strengthened under President KUCHMA; the
NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on
domestic and international matters and advising the president; a
Presidential Administration that helps draft presidential edicts and
provides policy support to the president; and a Council of Regions
that serves as an advisory body created by President KUCHMA in
September 1994 that includes chairmen of the Kyyiv (Kiev) and
Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti

elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election last held 31 October and 14 November 1999 (next to be held
NA 2004); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the
president and approved by the Supreme Council

election results: Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president; percent of
vote - Leonid KUCHMA 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8%

Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada
(450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, half of the Supreme
Council's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those
parties that gain 4% or more 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)

election results: percent of vote by party (for parties clearing 4%
hurdle on 29 March 1998) - Communist Party 24.7%, Ruk