List of Presidents of Ukraine

President of Ukraine
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Petro Poroshenko since 7 June 2014
Residence	Mariyinsky Palace
Appointer	Popular election
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Ukraine
Inaugural holder	Leonid Kravchuk, 5 December 1991^[a]
Formation	Law "On the President of the Ukrainian SSR," 5 July 1991^[b][1]
Succession	Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
Website	president.gov.ua

The modern Ukrainian presidency was formed when the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic passed a law on 5 July 1991 establishing the office of the "President of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic."^[1] Upon the proclamation of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991, the title was changed to the "President of Ukraine." The first election of the President of Ukraine was contested on 1 December 1991, which was won by Leonid Kravchuk.

All five presidents have been people's deputies of the Verkhovna Rada prior to their election. Kravchuk was the first president to have resigned from the office, following a power struggle between him and Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma. After the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, Viktor Yanukovych abandoned his office and fled the country. He was subsequently impeached, and replaced with Oleksandr Turchynov as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, who takes on as acting president when the office is vacant. Early presidential elections were contested on 25 May 2014, which were won by Petro Poroshenko; Poroshenko was inaugurated as the fifth president on 7 June 2014. On 18 June 2015 Yanukovych was officially deprived of the title of President of Ukraine.^[2]

List of Presidents of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Party legend

  Communist Party of the Soviet Union

№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office / mandates		Cabinets	Notes	Political alliance
1		Leonid Kravchuk[3] Леонід Кравчук (1934–)	5 July 1991^[a]	5 December 1991	Fokin (1990–92)	Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (1990-1991	Communist Party of the Soviet Union

List of Presidents of Ukraine

Party legend

  Independent   Our Ukraine   Party of Regions   Fatherland   Petro Poroshenko Bloc

№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office / mandates		Cabinets	Notes	Political alliance
1		Leonid Kravchuk[3] Леонід Кравчук (1934–)	5 December 1991^[a]	19 July 1994	Fokin (1990–92)	Resigned from office.	Independent
			1991 – 61.59%, 19,643,481[4]		Kuchma (1992–93)
2		Leonid Kuchma[5] Леонід Кучма (1938–)	19 July 1994[6]	23 January 2005	Masol II (1994–95) Marchuk (1995–96) Lazarenko (1996–97) Pustovoitenko (1997–99) Yushchenko (1999–2001) Kinakh (2001–02) Yanukovych I (2002–04)	Opted out of third term in office.[7]	Independent[8]
			1994 – 52.15%, 14,016,850[9] 1999 – 56.25%, 15,870,722[10]
3		Viktor Yushchenko[11] Віктор Ющенко (1954–)	23 January 2005	25 February 2010	Tymoshenko I (2005)	Lost re-election campaign.[12]	Our Ukraine[13]
			2004 – 51.99%, 15,115,712[14]		Yekhanurov (2005–06)
					Yanukovych II (2006–07)
					Tymoshenko II (2007–10)
4		Viktor Yanukovych[15] Віктор Янукович (1950–)	25 February 2010	22 February 2014	Azarov I (2010–12)	Removed from office following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.[16]	Party of Regions[17]
2010 – 48.95%, 12,481,266[18]		Azarov II (2012–14)
—		Oleksandr Turchynov[19] Олександр Турчинов (1964–)	22 February 2014	7 June 2014	Yatsenyuk I (2014)[20]	Assumed command of the armed forces on 26 February.[21]	Fatherland[22]
			ex officio as Chairman of Verkhovna Rada^[c] (288–yes, 0–no, 5–ab.)[23][24]
5		Petro Poroshenko[25] Петро Порошенко (1965–)	7 June 2014	Incumbent		Won election in first round.	Petro Poroshenko Bloc
			2014 – 54.70%, 9,857,308[26]		Yatsenyuk II (2014–present)

Timeline

Living former Presidents

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Leonid Kravchuk	1991–1994	10 January 1934
Leonid Kuchma	1994–2005	9 August 1938
Viktor Yushchenko	2005–2010	23 February 1954
Viktor Yanukovych*	2010–2014	9 July 1950
Oleksandr Turchynov (acting)	2014	31 March 1964

Notes:

• Viktor Yanukovych was stripped of the title following his escape from Ukraine.

See also

List of Ukrainian rulers, from ancient to modern times List of leaders of Ukraine, since Ukrainian independence in 1917

List of Prime Ministers of Ukraine, since 1917 List of Chairmen of the Verkhovna Rada, since 1938

References

Notes

a.^{^} Although Leonid Kravchuk's official inauguration ceremony was conducted on 22 August 1992, he carried out most of the presidential responsibilities temporarily ceded to him as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 24 August 1991^[27] until 5 December 1991 when he became President of Ukraine in his own right.

b.^{^} As President of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

c.^{^} "In the event of the pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine in accordance with Articles 108, 109, 110 and 111 of this Constitution, the execution of duties of the President of Ukraine, for the period pending the elections and the assumption of office of the new President of Ukraine, shall be vested in the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine." —Constitution of Ukraine, Article 112.

Footnotes

1. Laws of Ukraine. Vekhovna Rada of Ukraine decree No. 1295-XII: On the President of the Ukrainian SSR (Про Президента Української РСР). Adopted on 5 July 1991. (Ukrainian)
2. Published law deprives Yanukovych of presidential rank, UNIAN (17 June 2015)
3. "Leonid Kravchuk". Official web-site of President of Ukraine. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
4. Kireev, Alex. "Ukraine. Presidential elections of 1991". Electoral Geography 2.0 (in Russian). Retrieved 29 March 2015.
5. "Leonid Kuchma". Official web-site of President of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
6. Laws of Ukraine. Vekhovna Rada of Ukraine decree No. 106/94-ВР: On the date of oath of the President of Ukraine (Про дату принесення присяги Президентом України). Adopted on 14 July 1994. (Ukrainian)
7. Laws of Ukraine. Constitutional Court of Ukraine decision No. 22-рп/2003: Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine regarding the case of the constitutional petition of 53 and 47 People's Deputies of Ukraine concerning the official interpretation of the provisions of Article 103 of the Constitution of Ukraine (right on the timing of tenure of the President of Ukraine (Рішення Конституційного Суду України у справі за конституційними поданнями 53 і 47 народних депутатів України про офіційне тлумачення положення частини третьої статті 103 Конституції України (справа щодо строків перебування на посту Президента України)). Adopted on 25 December 2003. (Ukrainian)
8. "Kuchma Leonid Danylovych". Election of President 99 (in Ukrainian). Central Election Commission of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
9. Popescu, Marina (12 December 2002). "1994 Presidential Elections". Project on Political Transformation and the Electoral Process in Post-Communist Europe. University of Essex. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
10. Carr, Adam. "Presidential election of October/November 1999". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
11. "Victor Yushchenko". Official web-site of President of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
12. "Yushchenko loses re-election bid". The Washington Times. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
13. "History of "Our Ukraine"". Informational server "Our Ukraine" (in Ukrainian). Our Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
14. Carr, Adam. "Presidential election of October - November 2004". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
15. "The History of Presidency". Official web-site of President of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
16. Laws of Ukraine. Vekhovna Rada of Ukraine decree No. 757-VII: On withdrawal of the President of Ukraine from the implementation of constitutional powers and calling early presidential elections in Ukraine (Про самоусунення Президента України від виконання конституційних повноважень та призначення позачергових виборів Президента України). Adopted on 22 February 2014. (Ukrainian)
17. "Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych". Elections of the President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Central Election Commission of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
18. Carr, Adam. "Presidential election of January - February 2010". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
19. "Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president". BBC News. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
20. "Government of Ukraine". Web-portal of Ukrainian Government. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
21. Laws of Ukraine. President of Ukraine decree No. 140/2014: On the assumption of responsibilities of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Про прийняття обов'язків Верховного Головнокомандувача Збройних Сил України). Adopted on 26 February 2014. (Ukrainian)
22. "Oleksandr Turchynov" (in Ukrainian). Batkivshchyna. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
23. Laws of Ukraine. Vekhovna Rada of Ukraine decree No. 748-VII: On the Chairman of the Verhkvona Rada of Ukraine (Про Голову Верховної Ради України). Adopted on 22 February 2014. (Ukrainian)
24. "Draft Resolution of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Turchynov O.V.)". Official portal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
25. "Petro Poroshenko". Official web-site of President of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
26. Carr, Adam. "Presidential election of 25 May 2013". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
27. Laws of Ukraine. Vekhovna Rada of Ukraine decree No. 1430-XII: On granting additional powers to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Про надання додаткових повноважень Голові Верховної Ради України). Adopted on 24 August 1991. (Ukrainian)

External links

• "The History of Presidency". Official web-stite of President of Ukraine. Retrieved 29 March 2015.