Prime Minister of Ukraine

Infobox Political post
post = Prime Minister
body = Ukraine
insignia = Government Building.jpg
insigniasize = 200px
insigniacaption = Cabinet of Ministers building
termlength =

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incumbent = Yulia Tymoshenko
incumbentsince = December 18, 2007
formation = November 18, 1920
inaugural = Andriy Livytskyi
website = [http://www.kmu.gov.ua/ kmu.gov.ua]

The Prime Minister of Ukraine ( _uk. Прем'єр-міністр України, "Prem'ier-ministr Ukrayiny") presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the top body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government.

Appointment and dismissal

The Prime Minister is appointed by the Verkhovna Rada following a proposal by President ( of Constitution). The candidacy is chosen and forwarded to the President by a parliamentary coalition. Formally, the President has 15 days to consider the candidacy and the Constitution is silent on whether the candidacy may be turned down.

Before the Constitutional reform of 2004, the President was not restricted in his choice of the Prime-Minister candidacy and the ratification in the parliament was usually preceded by several days of comprehensive consultations and interviews of the candidate by the parliamentary factions. The approval by the legislature was not a mere formality. Some candidates were ratified by a narrow margin and a candidate may be turned down. For instance, in 1999, Valeriy Pustovoytenko fell short of 3 votes to be re-confirmed after he tendered his resignation at the second inauguration of President Kuchma. Kuchma chose Viktor Yushchenko as his alternative candidate. Another example is the ratification of Yuriy Yekhanurov. He was short of 3 votes to get ratified and was confirmed on the second attempt 2 days later.

Before the constitutional reform, the Prime minister was usually dismissed unilaterally by the President. After the reform the Prime minister can only be dismissed by the parliament. Formally, the Verkhovna Rada needs to pass a resolution of no confidence in the Cabinet, which must result in the PM's resignation. However, the parliament cannot put the resolution on vote within "one year" after the approval of the Cabinet's programme. The parliament dismissed the Cabinets of Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych. The latter refused to tender his resignation to the President claiming a violation of the one-year period condition. The Cabinet of Yuriy Yekhanurov had also been formally dismissed, but the parliamentary act was subsequently repealed.

The Prime Minister, as well as any other Cabinet member, may resign voluntarily by tendering the resignation to the parliament. A resignation by the Prime Minister results in the dismissal of the Cabinet. After the adoption of the current Constitution of Ukraine, only Pavlo Lazarenko lost his post this way.

Also, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet are obligated to resign to each new convocation of the parliament. ( of Constitution).

Authority

The Prime Minister supervises the work of the Cabinet and signs its decrees. Also, he or she proposes candidacies of ministers to the parliament (except the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense), as well as candidacies of heads of regional state administrations (colloquially referred to as "governors") to the President.

Moreover, the Prime Minister has the authority to countersign many presidential edicts, together with a minister responsible for the execution of the edict. The Constitution does not make it clear whether the PM may withhold his or her signature and whether missing countersignatures render an edict unenforceable.

List of Heads of Government of Ukraine (1918-Present)

Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1921)

Chairman of the Council of Ministers

* Vsevolod Oleksandrovych Holubovych (22 January - 28 April 1918)
* Mykola Illich Sakhno-Ustymovych (29 April - 30 April 1918)
* Mykola Prokopovych Vasylenko (30 April - 10 May 1918)
* Fedir Andriiovych Lyzohub (10 May - 14 November 1918)
* Serhii Mykolaiovych Gerbel (14 November - 14 December 1918)
* Vacant (14 December - 26 December - 1918)
* Volodymyr Musiyovych Chekhivsky (26 December 1918 - 13 February 1919)
* Serhii Stepanovych Ostapenko (13 February - 9 April 1919)
* Borys Mykolaiovych Martos (9 April - 27 August 1919)
* Isaak Prokhorovych Mazepa (27 August 1919 - 20 May 1920)
* Vyacheslav Konstantinovych Prokopovych (20 May - 20 October 1920)
* Andrii Mykolaiovych Livytsky (20 October - 18 November 1920)

Ukrainian People's Republic in Exile (1921-1992)

Prime ministers

(in Prague to 1945, then Munich)

* Andrii Mykolaiovych Livytsky (18 November 1920 - 1921) (1st time)
* Pylyp Pylypchuk (1921 - 1922)
* Andrii Mykolaiovych Livytsky (1922 - 1926) (2nd time)
* Vyacheslav Konstantinovych Prokopovych (1926 - 7 June 1942)
* Oleksandr Yakovych Shulhyn (1942 - 1944)
* Andrii Yakovliv (1944 - 1945) (acting)
* Kost Pankivskiy (1945 - 1948)
* Isaak Prokhorovych Mazepa (1948 - 18 March 1952)
* Stepan Baran (1952 - 4 June 1953)
* Stepan Vytvytsky (1954)
* Symon Sozontiv (1954 - 1957)
* Mykola Andriiovych Livytsky (1957 - 1967)
* Atanas Figol (22 March 1967 - 1969)
* Spyrydon Dovgal (1969 - 1972)
* Vasyl' Fedoronchuk (1972 - 1974)
* Teofil Leontiy (1974 - 1980)
* Yaroslav Bohdan Rudnycky (1980 - 1989)
* Ivan Samiylenko (1989 - 1992)

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1991)

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars

* Khrystyyan Georgiiovych Rakovsky (29 January - 11 December 1919) (1st time)

Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Revolutionary Committee

* Hryhorii Ivanovych Petrovsky (11 December 1919 - 19 February 1920)

Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars

* Khrystyyan Georgiiovych Rakovsky (19 February 1920 - 15 July 1923) (2nd time)
* Vlas Yakovlevich Chubar (15 July 1923 - 28 April 1934)
* Panas Petrovich Lyubchenko (28 April 1934 - 30 August 1937)
* Mikhail Ilich Bondarenko (30 August - 13 October 1937)
* Nikolay Makarovich Marchak (13 October 1937 - 21 February 1938) (acting)
* Demyan Sergeyevich Korotchenko (21 February 1938 - 6 August 1939) (1st time)
* Leonid Romanovich Korniyets (6 August 1939 - 16 February 1944) (in exile in Russian SFSR from 1941 until 1944)
* Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (16 February 1944 - 25 March 1946)

Chairmen of the Council of Ministers

* Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (25 March 1946 - 4 March 1947)
* Demyan Sergeyevich Korotchenko (4 March 1947 - 15 January 1954) (2nd time)
* Nikifor Timofeyevich Kalchenko (15 January 1954 - 28 February 1961)
* Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbitsky (28 February 1961 - 28 June 1963) (1st time)
* Ivan Pavlovich Kazanets (28 June 1963 - 22 October 1965)
* Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbitsky (22 October 1965 - 8 June 1972) (2nd time)
* Aleksandr Pavlovich Lyashko (8 June 1972 - 10 July 1990)
* Vitaly Andreyevich Masol (10 July - 23 October 1990)
* Vitold Pavlovich Fokin (23 October 1990 - 23 October 1992) (acting to 14 November 1990) (continued below)

Prime Ministers of Ukraine (1991-Present)

ee also

External links

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