On December 8, 1991, the whole world will be remembered thanks to the meeting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in Belarus, at which an agreement was signed on the withdrawal of three Slavic republics from the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. From that moment, an active geopolitical change began, which is sadly reflected in all its members to this day. Let's look at what the presidents of Ukraine were like. There were five of them in order, but some are trying to argue with this, so you need to understand this issue.
Probably, it was worth starting with the person who directly signed the agreement on secession from the USSR. From Ukraine, it was Leonid Kravchuk, but we will return to it, but for now, in order not to disfigure the chronology of events, it is necessary to note such a person as Mikhail Grushevsky. The first president of Ukraine played a very important role and had to cope with a host of problems. It was precisely Leonid Kravchuk, and Grushevsky at one time held the post of head of the Central Council. In modern language, he was a speaker, because such a post as the president simply did not exist yet. This was stated in the draft Constitution, which was approved by the Central Rada on April 29, 1918. Nevertheless, the personality for Ukraine is quite significant - even on 50 Ukrainian hryvnias his portrait is depicted. During the revolution, this scientist and historian took the helm of the hastily created authority, in fact, in the same way he was overthrown (with the help of the revolution). In fact, for Ukraine this way of changing power is still quite popular to this day, almost all the presidents of Ukraine have been successively changed in this way.
independence Day
The Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR in 1991 on August 24 adopted an act in which Ukraine was declared independent. Initially, the Independence Day of Ukraine was announced on July 16 (but the very next year, in 1992, it was decided to change it to August 24). Soon, more than 90% of the votes of all participants in the referendum were cast for independence. Already on December 1, 1991, the independent state held the first direct election of the President of Ukraine, at which Leonid Makarovich Kravchuk received more than 61% of the vote.
Kravchuk is praised in the same way as criticized. A negative assessment is mainly due to the fact that immediate decisions, immediate “rejection” of Russia and minimal relations, both economic and political, were expected from him. But thanks to his phenomenal ability to maneuver between opposing political forces, he managed to save Crimea as a future autonomous republic, which was precisely part of Ukraine. As the first president of Ukraine Kravchuk himself said, he tried to do everything for Ukraine to gain its independence in a peaceful way, without bloodshed.
The path of the first president: inauguration
Kravchuk was not always a cunning politician and skilled president, Leonid Makarovich’s childhood and adolescence before party work were very difficult. He himself used to remember about 50 grams of halva given by his mother to him on his birthday, or about home-made wooden skates. Then he lived in a university dormitory with 12 guys, but all the hardships were successfully left behind after graduating and moving to the Chernivtsi Financial College in order to teach political economy in 1958. With party work in 1991, things got a lot better, and living was easier.
The first president of Ukraine becomes legal only after the inauguration. For Leonid Kravchuk and his team, this was a very responsible task, since this was the first time. Naturally, the oath was necessary at the then Constitution, but at the same time it was proposed to take the oath at the Peresopnytsia Gospel, since it was at that time the most ancient shrine of Ukraine. Due to the fact that at that time the anthem had not yet been created, a choir was invited who performed "Great, One God, God bless us." Thus, the official part was completed, and the first president of Ukraine officially took office.
Second president
The presidency of Leonid Makarovich did not last long, and already in July 1994, in the second round, he lost to the once-acting Prime Minister Leonid Danilovich Kuchma. The expression “what we have, we do not value, but we lose, weep” can be fully attributed to the second candidate for president of Ukraine. The list of his achievements is large enough for the Ukrainian people to be fully proud and literally “miss” him. At the same time, the list of his failures also “looms like an eyesore”, therefore there are opponents of his policy.
Achievements and failures
For ten years of his tenure as head of state (meanwhile, this is the longest term of all), President Kuchma was able to prevent “crazy” inflation, since Ukraine was in a very deep economic pit after the collapse of the USSR. The President has become a real lifeline for a market economy in the modern world of Ukrainian relations on the world stage. Thanks to his reforms, the country did not sink to the very bottom of the economy.
In 1996, a constant and stable monetary unit was introduced, which was called the hryvnia. According to experts, this also contributed to the strengthening of the country's economy. Leonid Danilovich did not conceal that he was heading for the EU, but at the same time he was in no hurry to break off his close relationship with Russia, numerous treaties confirming this. Among these was the so-called Big Agreement, which stipulated cooperation between countries in a number of important industries and areas, which was primarily beneficial to Ukraine itself, making it a full-fledged player in the world arena.
But there are some “unworthy” actions beyond Kuchma, some of which are unproven, and those that are proved were simply “hushed up”. Among these, one can note the order to kill the unwanted Kuchma journalist G. Gongadze, who “dug for him” and had an impressive amount of dirt that could create serious problems for the then president. The accusations of Kuchma did not end there, and already in 2004 the people were indignant, since the Krivorozhstal plant was sold to his son-in-law - Victor Pinchuk. In the days of Kuchma, corruption and the oligarchy began to flourish. Further, there are still a lot of criminal cases in the theft of public funds and an attempt to amend the constitution in order to stay for a third term. But nothing came of it, as a result of the next presidential election, in which Viktor Yanukovych wins.
Viktor Yanukovych and the Orange Revolution
In the 2004 presidential election , the future president of Ukraine Yanukovych wins. And all would be well, but that only served as the organization of a mass campaign of protests that took place in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, on Independence Square. The revolution, later dubbed “orange,” was organized by supporters of Viktor Yushchenko, due to the announcement by the central election commission of the results that Viktor Yanukovych won. They allegedly differed greatly from the data of the exit poll and served as a podvod for the decision to re-conduct the second round, which at that moment they managed to christen “third.” It is worth noting that this revolution served as a further surge in such color revolutions in Georgia, Turkey, and now China. So, the third round showed that Viktor Yushchenko won, despite the fact that Viktor Yanukovych already began to receive congratulations on his appointment as president from heads of states such as Russia and Belarus.
Thus, if some remote countries of the West were not interested in Ukraine or did not even know where this country is, then after the revolution it became world famous. Meanwhile, on January 23, 2005, Viktor Yushchenko swore an oath on the Peresopnytsia Gospel and the Constitution of Ukraine, like all the presidents of Ukraine (he was third in order). After that, he went to the square and delivered a victorious speech.
Board of Viktor Yushchenko
During his tenure, Viktor Yushchenko showed himself to be a proponent of rapprochement with America, NATO and the EU. During his presidency, there was a very strong severance of all ties with Russia: spiritual, political, economic. He wanted to pay off Russia's debt for gas in order to conduct a conversation from the position of the owner of the Black Sea basin and the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation being in it.
President of Ukraine Yushchenko, reaching the chair of the head of state and gaining full power, still under the euphoria of the Orange Revolution, instantly removes all people from their previous posts from their posts and replaces them with those who advanced with him. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko received an order to dissolve parliament. This was done by Yushchenko to prepare his people for parliamentary seats. At this time, there is a split in the "orange coalition." The political crisis is growing; against this background, a scandal breaks out with Gazprom. Thus, the president does not have time to cope with the crisis in the country, and meanwhile, the opposition Viktor Yanukovych (“Party of Regions”) and Petro Symonenko (“Communist Party of Ukraine”) together with Yulia Tymoshenko (“Fatherland”) demand impeachment of the president.
Yulia Tymoshenko and her team began to “spin up” Yushchenko’s shadow schemes; quite a lot of interesting facts became known about the appropriation of a large amount of state funds through privatization and shell companies, for example, Rosukrenergo. During his reign, Yushchenko managed to give out a huge number of awards and orders for dubious merits to almost all his relatives.
After some time, it becomes clear that the president’s impeachment does not make sense, since his rating is rather low (despite the fact that he hoped to run for a second term), due to the fact that the elections that have already been outlined are not far off Yulia Tymoshenko and her main opponent are Viktor Yanukovych.
Return
In 2010, in the upcoming presidential election, almost no one doubted that Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovych would be the new president of Ukraine. The elections were also held in two rounds. As expected, the leaders of the "Party of Regions" and "Fatherland" converged. Thus, already on February 14, after the vote count, it became clear that Viktor Yanukovych won. During the inauguration of the president, there were several interesting cases that could not escape the attention of journalists and opponents of Viktor Fedorovich. While the future president of Ukraine, Yanukovych, was preparing for his inauguration, two days earlier, the figures of Khoriv and Schek fell near the monument to the founders of Kiev due to metal corrosion (Kiy, Schek, Khoriv - the founders of Kiev). Some managed to connect this incident with the upcoming adoption of the post in the Verkhovna Rada. But this is not the only funny case. At a time when the future president went into the parliament building, the door suddenly began to close in front of him.
Promised Achievements
Like all previous presidents, Yanukovych’s rule began with the creation of a vertical of persons surrounded by the president. He called on his opponents to "bury the ax of war" for productive work. At the same time, the political persecution of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko began, which were subsequently convicted and sentenced to prison under various articles. Naturally, Viktor Fedorovich convinced everyone that there was no political reason for this, but he believed in it weakly.
As for President Yanukovych, it cannot be said that during his reign he did not achieve any results. The problem was that, unlike all previous presidents, he had a concrete course, not to strengthen ties with the West, but to develop relations with Russia, which “pro-European" politicians did not particularly like. As a result, the next presidential election in Ukraine is taking place against the backdrop of a new revolution.
Revolution again
Already at the end of 2013 - the beginning of 2014, we get the European Revolution or the “Revolution of Dignity”, where the old and new Maidan leaders decided to rally in order to change power with the help of a coup. They do it - and as a result, Yanukovych flees the country. As the war begins, regular elections are being prepared, and rumors are already circulating that Poroshenko is the president of Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko
Virtually no one doubted that one of the active leaders of the "Maidan" would become president. As for Petro Poroshenko, many people know him not as a politician, but more as a businessman, the owner of the well-known confectionery company Roshen. Almost everyone, except Petro Poroshenko, were technical candidates for the presidency of Ukraine. The list was very diverse. Even Dart Vader, a candidate from the Internet Party of Ukraine, was nominated for the presidency, but was withdrawn at the last moment. Crimea did not participate in the vote, since at that time its residents voted in a referendum for accession to the Russian Federation, and, naturally, the eastern regions of Ukraine - Donetsk and Lugansk regions - because of the hostilities in these regions. The inauguration of the President of Ukraine Poroshenko, like Yanukovych, also could not do without interesting points. While Poroshenko was walking along the red carpet to the Verkhovna Rada, one soldier from the guard of honor, apparently, received a heat stroke, because of which he dropped his weapon from his hands and almost fainted. At the same time, the future president passed by, as if not noticing this.
It is too early to talk about specific cases, since in fact during the hostilities in eastern Ukraine it is very difficult to give an adequate assessment of Poroshenko. The President of Ukraine, as usual, says that the treasury has been looted, and you have to resort to unpopular measures in order to boldly look into the bright future.
Such were all the presidents of Ukraine in order, starting from the first and ending with the extreme one (a bad sign to say “last”). One can sincerely believe only that this is the presidential epic of Ukraine, which for a fairly short period of its independence was able to survive several revolutions and as many as five presidents, will be over and the country will gain a strong leader. It does not matter what course the new president of Ukraine, Western or Russian, will follow, it is only important that the country's residents feel protected and safe, that pensioners have a decent pension, and ordinary people have a salary. But in order to achieve this, it is necessary to make every effort, and although much depends on the personality of the president, one should not forget about the people in his environment, who should also be interested not only in their own well-being, but also in the well-being of their people. This is the fundamental goal of any self-respecting politician, and even more so the president of an independent country.