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
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
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

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 supp