Socialist Party of
Ukraine or SPU ; Trudova Ukrayina/Working
Ukraine ; Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh K
; United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine
; Yabluko Party
note: and numerous smaller parties

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

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Konstantin Ivanovych HRYSHCHENKO
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: (202) 333-0606
FAX: (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: (44) 246-9750
FAX: (44) 244-7350

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

@Ukraine: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 1992-99 fell to less than 40% 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 foreig