The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of Ukraine between 2006 and 2014. Since the February 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the party has not competed in elections and members have slowly dispersed; the last election the party participated in was the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election."Revival" "our land": Who picks up the legacy of "regionals"

BBC Ukrainian BBC News Ukrainian ( uk, BBC News Україна) is the Ukrainian service of the BBC which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Ukraine and the world. It started broadcasts in 1992.

(16 September 2015)
Party of Regions: Snake return
The Ukrainian Week (2 October 2015) The best known former party members are former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Mykola Azarov and former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych; both fled to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

in February 2014 after Euromaidan.Ex-PM Azarov, In Moscow, Proclaims 'Salvation Committee' For Ukraine
Radio Free Europe (3 August 2015)
Ukraine accuses Russia of breaking CIS agreements over Yanukovych extradition
Interfax-Ukraine (12 January 2015)

History

Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine

The founding congress of the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was held on 26 October 1997 in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

. The first leader of the party was mayor of Donetsk, Volodymyr Rybak. On 6 November 1997, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was registered at the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice.Партія регіонів
Database DATA On 27 November 1997 the 1st Party Congress took place, which adopted the electoral party list and platform for the next elections. On 13 January 1998 a parliamentary faction was created in the

parliament of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine (head of coordination council – Gennadiy Samofalov). During the 1998 parliamentary elections the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine won 0.90% of the votes. A single party representative was elected to the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

by winning one constituency at the regular elections.Ілюзорна ідилія
''

Den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita ...

'' (7 February 2007) The party was among the top 10 in Chernivtsi and Donetsk Oblasts. Volodymyr Rybak was the winner of constituency number 45 in Donetsk Oblast. During the 2nd Party Congress that took place in two stages during the spring of 1999 it was decided to support the presidential candidate

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corru ...

for the next presidential elections. It was recommended that the candidate include in his election campaign propositions of the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine, including one on granting the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living E ...

official status. In the summer of 1999, the party entered the electoral bloc "Our choice – Leonid Kuchma", consisting of 23 parties and led by Yevhen Kushnaryov, who endorsed incumbent President

in the presidential election of 1999.

Creation of the Party of Regions

On 17 November 2000, the 3rd Extraordinary Party Congress adopted the merger of five political parties, For Beautiful Ukraine ( Leonid Chernovetsky), All-Ukrainian Party of Pensioners (A. Kapusta), Party of Labor (Valentyn Landyk), Party of Solidarity of Ukraine (

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

), and Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine ( Volodymyr Rybak), into a new one under the name of Party of Regional Revival "Labor Solidarity of Ukraine". The co-leaders of the new political polity became Valentyn Landyk,

, and Volodymyr Rybak. Also, prior to the merger the Party of Solidarity of Ukraine was completely abandoned by its base party of

Serhiy Dovhan Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and ...

, the Peasant Party of Ukraine, which dissolved its union with Solidarity. On February 21, 2001, the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

registered the newly established Party of Regional Revival "Labour Solidarity of Ukraine". On March 3, 2001, at the 3rd Party Congress, the party changed its name to Party of Regions. At the congress Mykola Azarov, who at that time was chairman of the

State Tax Administration of Ukraine State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

, was elected the party leader, but soon resigned in December 2001,Ukraine Political Parties
GlobalSecurity.org being replaced by his deputy and at that time Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Semynozhenko. In an interview with the newspaper ''Den'' ( uk, День) on 6 March 2001, Azarov said that he agreed to become the chairman for a brief period "until the party nominated a leader who will claim the office of the President of Ukraine in 2004". In December 2001 the Party of Regions member Ihor Yushchko was appointed Minister of Finance of Ukraine. On 21 March 2001, the

re-registered the party under the number 939 with the older date of registration. On 23 May 2001, the party signed an agreement of partnership and cooperation with the party

Labour Ukraine Labour Ukraine ( uk, Трудова Україна ''Trudova Ukrajina'')
Database DATA is a

(

Serhiy Tihipko Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko ( uk, Сергій Леонідович Тiгiпко; born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subse ...

), and on 7 June 2001, with the

Agrarian Party of Ukraine Agrarian Party of Ukraine ( uk, Аграрна партія України) is a political party in Ukraine that was revived in October 2006 and was legally registered as a party in 2006.2001 Political sketches: too early for summing up

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social science ...

(January 4, 2002) after several deputies defected from their original faction. Critics claimed the deputies were "lured away" from those other factions by pressure and analysts claimed most of them had nothing to do with the new party.New «region» formed in Ukrainian Parliament

(26 March 2001) Nine out of seventeen members of the faction had their political and business roots in the Donetsk region. In July 2002 the party had a faction of 24 people (one deputy left the faction later).Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics, and Institutional Design
by

Paul D'Anieri Paul J. D'Anieri is Professor of Public Policy and Political Science and former Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost of University of California, Riverside. Prior to his position at the UCR, Dr. D'Anieri served as the dean of the University of Flori ...

, M.E. Sharpe, 2006, On 20 March 2001, Solidarity announced it would "be as a single bloc". (Eventually the (Solidarity) party became part of the

Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

during the 2002 parliamentary elections.) During the Ukrainian parliamentary election the party was a member of the

For United Ukraine For United Ukraine! ( uk, «За Єдину Україну!», translit=Za Yedynu Ukrayinu!) was a political alliance and an electoral bloc in Ukraine founded in December 2001 to participate in the parliamentary election held on 30 March 2002. ...

electoral bloc An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

. It was then led by Volodymyr Semynozhenko. From 21 November 2002 until 7 December 2004, Viktor Yanukovych was

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine ( uk, Прем'єр-міністр України, ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of th ...

. At a congress held on 19 April 2003 Viktor Yanukovych was elected party leader, succeeding Volodymyr Semynozhenko.Yanukovych suspends his membership in Party of Regions, hands over party leadership to Azarov
''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

'' (3 March 2010) At that time the party had 20 seats in parliament.

Electoral breakthrough

The party shifted its political ideology to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

and became much more

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

in nature before the

2004 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October, 21 November and 26 December 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union. The last stages of the election ...

and, as a result, Yanukovych won over a large part of the Communist party's electorate in eastern Ukraine. The party announced support for making Russian a second

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

in Ukraine, a pro-Russian foreign policy, and increased social spending. It also advocates the regionalist ideology, and many members support making Ukraine a

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

. The Party of Regions moved to opposition after its candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, lost the 2004 presidential election. The party leader first claimed an electoral victory, but strong allegations of

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

triggered a series of events commonly known as the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

. In the re-run of the presidential election ordered by the country's

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, Viktor Yanukovych lost the election to

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

. The Party claimed to be a victim of a political persecution campaign organised by the new government, also because

Borys Kolesnykov Borys Viktorovych Kolesnikov ( uk, Борис Вікторович Колесніков, born October 25, 1962) is the leader of the political party Ukraine is Our Home. He is the former secretary of the Party of Regions' presidium, former peop ...

, the head of the regional party branch and of the Donetsk regional council, was arrested in April 2005 and charged with criminal extortion. The Party of Regions claimed this was an act of political repression, while the authorities believed that Kolesnykov had links to

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and his arrest was a purely criminal matter. The

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

called the investigation "in full compliance with European standards". Kolesnykov has since been cleared of charges and released from pre-trial detention. The party signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 with

's "

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...

".Party of Regions hopes for strengthening collaboration with 'United Russia' party

(22 November 2009)

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

consultant Paul J. Manafort has advised the party and Yanukovych since 2005.Paid advisers descend on candidates, nation

(19 November 2009)

2006 Parliamentary Election results

At the

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on 26 March 2006, the party gained 32.14% of votes and 186 (out of 450) seats in the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

(the Ukrainian Parliament), forming the largest parliamentary group. On 6 July 2006, the Socialist Party of Ukraine abandoned the " Orange Coalition" between Our Ukraine and the

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of bloc ...

following the failure of each bloc to reach agreement on the formation of a governing coalition. On 10 July 2006 a new parliamentary majority titled the "anti-crisis coalition", led by the Party of Regions and including the Socialist Party and the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

, was formed, nominating Viktor Yanukovych to the post of prime minister. The coalition remained in office until the special parliamentary elections held in September 2007. At the

2006 Crimean parliamentary election The 2006 Crimean parliamentary election were held on 26 March 2006. These were the first elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, which were conducted on the proportional election system. In order to gain representation in the Parliament of the ...

the party was part of the '' For Yanukovych!'' election bloc. On 19 January 2007, Yevhen Kushnaryov, a member of the Party of Regions, died in

Izium Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban ...

as a result of an accidental gunshot wound received while hunting. In mid-2007, the Ukrainian Republican Party and

Labour Ukraine Labour Ukraine ( uk, Трудова Україна ''Trudova Ukrajina'')
Database DATA is a

merged into the Party of Regions.

2007 Parliamentary Election results

At the

held on 30 September 2007, the party won 175 seats (losing 11 seats) out of 450 seats with 34.37% of the total national vote. The party received the highest number of votes, with a swing of +2.23% in comparison to the 2006 vote. Following the formation of a governing coalition between Our Ukraine and the

and the election of Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister on 18 December 2007, the Party of Regions formed the parliamentary opposition. On 13 March 2009, Victor Yanukovych stated the Party of Regions was ready to unite into a coalition with its archrivals the

(BYuT). He noted that: "We are ready to unite, but only on the base of the program on struggle with crisis". The previous day the deputy leader of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction, Andriy Portnov, said that the union of his political force with the Party of Regions was highly improbable, but that the union of the BYuT and the Party of Regions could be possible after the next Ukrainian presidential elections.

Yulia Tymoshenko stated on 17 March 2009 that her bloc was ready to join efforts with the Regions Party to pass certain bills in the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

(Verkhovna Rada). "You are a representative of the Regions Party, ndI represent the BYuT. It's time to join efforts for the benefit of the country," Tymoshenko said. On 30 March 2009 Victor Yanukovych stated he did not believe in the possibility of forming a coalition with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in the current parliament. At the same time he added that "it would be necessary to agree on main issues" concerning amendments to the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine ( uk, Конституція України, translit=Konstytutsiia Ukrainy) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament ...

involving local self-government reform, judicial reform and clear division of authority among President, government and parliament. According to Yanukovych, talks with the BYuT were still ongoing in late May 2008. In early June talks to build a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...

to address the

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

collapsed, and Yulia Tymoshenko accused Yanukovych of betrayal: "He unilaterally, without warning anyone, quit the negotiation process, making a loud political statement, killing the merger and the chances for Ukraine". In September 2009

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Vasyl Kiselev was expelled from the party and the political council of the Party of Regions. Kiselev was expelled "for violation of provisions and demands of the charter of the Party of Regions and harming the reputation of the party". In September 2009 Mykola Azarov announced the creation of the

Anti-Fascist Forum of Ukraine Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers wer ...

, the chairmen of which were the member of parliament Dmytro Shentsev (

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

) and the head of the Luhansk Region State Administration, Valeriy Holenko.

Yanukovych presidency

The Party of Regions endorsed Viktor Yanukovych as their candidate for the 2010 presidential election. The party intended to create a new coalition in the

and form a new

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

if Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential elections. Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine on 7 February 2010. On 19 February the

terminated the powers of Ukrainian

(MP) Yanukovych, in his place #179 on the electoral list of the Party of Regions at the 2007 early parliamentary elections. Tamara Yehorenko was registered as an MP by the

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

on 26 February. On 3 March Ukrainian President Yanukovych suspended his membership in the Party (Yanukovych was barred by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

from heading a political party) and handed over leadership in the party and in the parliamentary faction to Mykola Azarov. Nine days later Azarov handed it to Oleksandr Yefremov. On 11 March 2010, together with Bloc Lytvyn and

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...

, the party joined the first Azarov Government. The party elected a new Chairman at its 12th congress on 23 April 2010.

Mykola Azarov was elected.Azarov elected Regions Party head
''

'' (23 April 2010) Seven extra deputies (four

Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of bloc ...

(BYuT) members) joined the Party of Regions faction in October 2010.Депутатські фракції і групи VII скликання ''Deputy fractions and Groups VII convocation''
, Verkhovna Rada In March 2011 five more former BYuT deputies joined the faction. By late November 2012 the Party of Regions faction consisted of 195 lawmakers (20 more than the 175 elected in September 2007). During the

2010 Ukrainian local elections The 2010 Ukrainian local elections took place on 31 October 2010,2010 Crimean parliamentary election (where it won over 70% of the seats).Local government elections in Ukraine: last stage in the Party of Regions’ takeover of power
,

Centre for Eastern Studies The Centre for Eastern Studies ( pl, Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich, OSW) is a Warsaw-based think tank that undertakes independent research on the political, economic and social situation in Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Caucasus and C ...

(4 October 2010) It was the only party that won representatives in all

Ukrainian oblasts An oblast ( uk, о́бласть; ) in Ukraine, often called a region or province, is the main type of first-level administrative division of the country. Ukraine's territory is divided into 24 oblasts, as well as one autonomous republic, Crime ...

where elections were held, and it won the most votes in all but four of those oblasts (the four oblasts where it did not were situated in

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austr ...

). In

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, particularly in 2010–2014, the Party of Regions was nicknamed " Makedonians" because the Crimean Prime Ministers

Vasyl Dzharty Vasyl Heorhiyovych Dzharty ( uk, Василь Георгійович Джарти; 3 June 1958 – 17 August 2011) was a Ukrainian politician who served as Prime Minister of Crimea from 17 March 2010 until his death in August 2011. Early lif ...

and

Anatolii Mohyliov Anatolii Volodymyrovych Mohyliov ( uk, Анатолій Володимирович Могильов, russian: Анатолий Владимирович Могилёв; born April 6, 1955) is a Ukrainian politician. He is the former Prime Ministe ...

were associated with the "

Makiivka Makiivka ( uk, Макіївка, Makíyivka, ; russian: Макеевка, Makeyevka, ), formerly Dmytriivsk, is an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. Located from the capital Donetsk, the two cities are practically a conurbati ...

- Donetsk clan."Russia in global politics. The new game rules with rules (compilations) (Россия в глобальной политике. Новые правила игры без правил (сборник))
br>Zakhar Samsonov.

'.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

. 7 February 2019
Oleg Glavatskiy, Valeriy Kosarev.
The Crimean choice (Крымский выбор)
'.
Borislav Kashikhin, Nadezhda Isaeva.
Between "Udmurts" and "Makedonians": The Chaly Bloc is pre-estimating Sablin (Между «удмуртами» и «македонцами»: блок Чалого приценивается к Саблину)
'. Primechaniya.ru. 13 February 2019
Petr Kozlov.
"If it had particular a stage directing, the stage director had to be given a five with mark («Если это имело определенную режиссуру, режиссеру нужно поставить пять с плюсом»)
'.

Vedomosti ''Vedomosti'' ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow. History ''Vedomosti'' was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Dow Jones, who publishes ''The Wall ...

. 16 March 2015 In September 2010, the party was planning to sign a memorandum on cooperation with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

.Regions Party planning to sign memorandum on cooperation with Communist Party of China

(14 September 2010) On 14 October 2010, the Party of Regions formed a co-operative arrangement with the Socialists and Democrats European parliamentary group.Perspectives of good cooperation between S&D and the party of regions of Ukraine
, socialistsanddemocrats.eu. 14 Oct 2010. Retrieved 25 Aug 2011. President Yanukovych and the Party of Regions have been accused of trying to create a "controlled democracy" in Ukraine and as a means to this of trying to "destroy" the main opposition party

BYuT The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of bloc ...

, but both have denied these charges.Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle?

openDemocracy.net openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...

(3 January 2011)

2012 Parliamentary Election results

Ukr elections 2012 multimandate oblasts pr

In August 2011 Strong Ukraine and People's Party announced that both parties aimed to merge with the Party of Regions.Strong Ukraine postpones decision on merger with Regions Party

(22 October 2011) Strong Ukraine to prepare its proposals to Regions Party on posts distribution, says Tigipko

(22 October 2011) The merger between People's Party and Party of Regions did not materialise.Литвин поведе Народну партію на вибори саму
''

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

'' (12 December 2011) Strong Ukraine and Party of Regions merged on 17 March 2012.Tigipko hooks up with Party of Regions
''

'' (20 March 2012)
Strong Ukraine party decides on disbanding to join Regions Party

(17 March 2012) (Former) Strong Ukraine leader

Serhiy Tyhypko Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko ( uk, Сергій Леонідович Тiгiпко; born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subse ...

was unanimously elected Party of Regions deputy chairman and member of the Party of Regions political council the same day. Party of Regions parliamentarian Olena Bondarenko had stated (early March 2012) that Party of Regions, Strong Ukraine party and "another party" planned to hold a unity congress on 17 March 2012. No additional third party merged with the Party of Regions on 17 March 2012; according to Ukrainian media Tyhypko had personally prevented a merger of United Centre with the Party of Regions in March 2012. In October 2011 a cooperation agreement was signed in

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

between the

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Nur Otan Amanat (), previously known as Nur Otan () until 2022, is a big tent political party in Kazakhstan. Being the largest to date, it has been the ruling party of the country from 1999, with a membership claiming to be of over 762,000 people in 2007. ...

and the Party of Regions. In late 2011, the party's popularity dropped in opinion polls below 20%, mainly because the party was losing votes to the

. In April 2012, the top PR consultancy

Burson-Marsteller Burson Cohn & Wolfe is a multinational public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged its subsidiaries Cohn & Wolfe with Burson-Marsteller. The comb ...

was hired to represent the interests of the Party of Regions, "to help them communicate its activities as the governing party of Ukraine, as well as to help it explain better its position on the Yulia Tymoshenko case", as explained by Robert Mack, a senior manager at Burson-Marsteller.EU Observer
27 April 2012 In the October 2012 parliamentary elections the party won 72 seats and 30% of the votes under

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...

(falling from 34% in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

and 32% in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

) and another 115 by winning 115 simple-majority constituencies (it had competed in 204 of the 225 constituencies); this sum gave them a total of 187 seats and 41,56% of the 450 seats in the

. The party had lost about 2 million voters compared with the previous election.After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of Regions

(7 November 2012) On 12 December 2012 the party formed a parliamentary faction of 210 deputies.It was announced about creation of 5 factions in VRU – Party of Regions, Batkivshchyna, UDAR, Svoboda and CPU

Ukrainian Independent Information Agency The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

(12 December 2012) On 31 December 2013 this faction was 204 votes strong. At least 18 Party of Regions deputies have criminal ties, according to

Hennadiy Moskal Hennadiy Hennadiyovych Moskal ( uk, Геннадій Геннадійович Москаль; born 11 December 1950) is a Ukrainian politician and the former governor of Zakarpattia Oblast, serving from 2015 to 2019.

, deputy head of Parliament's Committee on Organized Crime and Corruption. In June 2013, 148 people's deputies of Ukraine signed a letter to the

Polish Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of th ...

asking to recognize the Volhynian tragedy as a genocide ( :uk:Звернення депутатів від Партії регіонів і КПУ до польського Сейму). A total of 119 of those parliamentarians were members of Party of Regions, while other 23 were from the

Post-Yanukovych presidency

Yanukovych impeachment

From November 2013 until February 2014 Ukraine was gripped by a series of anti-government demonstrations, known as Euromaidan.Ukraine's Maidan protests - one year on

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

(21 November 2014)
Goals of Euromaidan were the impeachment of President Yanukovych and

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

s. Late January 2014 the party's symbol and activities were banned in the Chernivtsi,

Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Terno ...

and

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Ob ...

regions. Although there was no legal basis for these bans since in Ukraine only a court can ban the activities of a political force. The Party of Regions faction in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

announced its dissolution on 19 February 2014, in connection with the crisis of the preceding three months. On 22 February 2014, during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the

voted to impeach the honorary chairman of the party, Viktor Yanukovych, as President of Ukraine.Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

(23 February 2014)
Ukraine protests timeline

(23 February 2014) Out of the 38 PoR deputies present, 36 voted in favor of ousting Yanukovych, while two did not take part in the vote. Simultaneously both Yanukovych and former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov fled to

. In a written statement the next day, the party denounced Yanukovych, stating they "strongly condemn the criminal orders that led to human victims, an empty state treasury, huge debts, shame before the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the entire world." On 24 February 2014 faction leader Oleksandr Yefremov declared that the party was moving into the opposition. 77 of its MPs had left the faction over the past few days.Party of Regions faction becomes opposition

(24 February 2014) On 25 February 2014

Anatoliy Kinakh Anatoliy Kyrylovych Kinakh ( uk, Анатолій Кирилович Кінах) (born August 4, 1954) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician and honorary professor at the Mykolaiv Government Humanitarian University. Kinakh is a former (long servi ...

and 32 other mostly former PoR deputies created the parliamentary faction

Economic Development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

.Rada creates Group for Economic Development
,

Radio Ukraine Ukrainian Radio ( uk, Українське радіо) is the publicly funded radio broadcaster in Ukraine since 1924. In 2017 has been merged with national TV company into country's public broadcaster Suspilne.

(25 February 2014) On 28 March 2014 Yanukovych asked the Party of Regions to exclude him. The next day, at a party congress, the party nominated Mykhailo Dobkin as its presidential candidate for the

2014 Ukrainian presidential election Snap presidential elections held in Ukraine on 25 May 2014 resulted in Petro Poroshenko being elected President of Ukraine.Serhiy Arbuzov Serhiy Hennadiyovych Arbuzov ( uk, Сергій Геннадійович Арбузов, russian: Сергей Геннадьевич Арбузов, translit=Sergey Gennadyevich Arbuzov; born 24 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former banker and poli ...

, ex-chairman of the Ministry of Revenue and Duties Olexander Klimenko, former Energy Minister Eduard Stavitskyi, ex-governor of the Donetsk region Andrew Shishatskiy and

Valery Konovalyuk The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric, abbot of Leuconay, Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant ...

. On 7 April 2014 the political council of the party expelled Sergiy Tigipko,

Oleh Tsariov Oleg Anatolyevich Tsaryov (russian: Олег Анатольевич Царёв; uk, Олег Анатолійович Царьов, Oleh Anatioliyovych Tsarov; born 2 June 1970) is a Ukrainian businessman, politician and former separatist offici ...

and Yuriy Boiko from the party.Ukraine's Party of Regions expels presidential hopefuls Tigipko, Tsariov and Boiko
Interfax-Ukraine (7 April 2014) Mykhailo Dobkin was the PoR's candidate in the snap presidential election of 25 May 2014, tallying only 3 percent of the vote. On 3 June 2014 again twenty Party of Regions deputies left the party's parliamentary faction. Thus the faction's strength was reduced from (at its highest point on 12 December 2012) 210 deputies to 80 deputies on 6 June 2014.20 lawmakers quit Party of Regions faction in Ukrainian parliament

ITAR-TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

(3 June 2014) A by-product of this was that it became the second biggest faction in parliament, after the faction of

Batkivshchyna The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Pe ...

with 85 members. On 2 July 2014 the 32 member strong new parliamentary faction

For Peace and Stability For Peace and Stability ( uk, За мир і стабільність, Russian language, Russian: За мир и стабильность) was a Ukraine, Ukrainian parliamentary faction in its national parliament Verkhovna Rada from 2 July 2014 til ...

, composed mostly of former Party of Regions MPs, was formed.

(2 July 2014)''Dynamics in the fraction For Peace and Stability in the VII convocation''

The following months many (former) members of the Party of Regions became objects of the so called "trash bucket challenge" (Ukraine officials dumped in trash containers and the likes).Tom Balmforth.
Frustrated Ukrainian Activists Dishing Out 'Trash-Bucket Justice'
'.

. 2 October 2014
Roland Oliphant.
Up to a dozen Ukraine officials dumped in wheelie bins
'.

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

. 07 Oct 2014
Ishaan Tharoor.
Watch: Ukrainian politician gets dump in the trash
'.

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

. 16 September 2014
Katya Gorchinskaya.
Frustrated over lack of justice, Ukrainians throw officials in trash (VIDEO)
'.

. 26 September 2014

Criminal case against deputies/party members support for separatism

On September 17, 2014, amidst the ongoing

war in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, a group of 24 people's deputies of Ukraine from the Party of Regions and the

, who are members of the Ukrainian parliamentary group

, met with Sergei Naryshkin, the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the Russian

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...

. On September 25, 2014, the Central Investigation Administration of the Ukrainian

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

opened a criminal case against those deputies charging them with infringement on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Ukrainian press claims that during the days around the February 2014 Ukrainian revolution several party members called for the disintegration of Ukraine and a union with the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. They claim that Oleksandr Yefremov, leader of the Ukrainian parliamentary faction was in full support of these proposed actions,Yefremov travels to Luhansk to discuss possibility of the separation of the South-East – source
LB. February 20, 2014 and Vladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the Supreme Council of the

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea, commonly known as Crimea, is a de jure autonomous republic of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,

went to

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

to support these actions.The Crimean speaker in Moscow threatens of the Crimea's secession to Russia
. The Crimean Tatar question. February 21, 2014

2014 Parliamentary Election and disintegration

On 14 September 2014 Party of Regions chose not to participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections; the party deemed the election as lacking legitimacy because the residents of the

Donbass The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

could not vote in the election.What distinguishes the "opposition bloc" of the Party of Regions?

(23 September 2014) Many individual members of Party of Regions ended up as candidates of

Opposition Bloc russian: Оппозиционный блок , colorcode = , logo = Opposition Bloc.png , logo_size = 240px , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Rinat Akhmetov (one wing)Dmytro Firtash & Yuriy Boyko ...

.Opposition Bloc chooses top ten candidates for parliamentary elections

Interfax Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company publishes in ...

(23 September 2014)
Allies of Yanukovych trying for parliament

(21 September 2014)
Party Of Regions Will Not Contest Snap Parliamentary Elections Independently

Ukrainian News Agency The Ukrainian News Agency ( uk, Інформаційне агентство "Українські Новини"; ''Informatsiyne ahentstvo "Ukrayins'ki Novyny"'') is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business ...

(14 September 2014) Party of Regions has not participated in elections since the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. By the summer of 2015 most representatives of the party in 2014 were members of Opposition Bloc, Revival or Our Land. Others continued their political careers in other parties (mostly

Petro Poroshenko Bloc European Solidarity ( uk, Європейська солідарність, Yevropeis'ka solidarnist', YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in va ...

);Activists noticed that most ex-Regions are on lists of Poroshenko

(22 October 2015) according to Ukrainian media research of February 2016 22% of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc representatives in regional councils and 12% of this party parliamentary deputies were former members of the Party of Regions. In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections former members of Party of Regions were candidates for the

Servant of the People party Servant of the People (SN; uk, Слуга народу, Sluha narodu, ) is a liberal, centrist, pro-European political party in Ukraine. It was formed in late 2017 and was officially registered on 31 March 2018 on the basis of the previously ...

.Zelensky presented the Kherson team: former members of the BPP, the Party of Regions and other political forces

Civil movement "Chesno" Chesno ( uk, Чесно, lit=honestly, fairly) is a Ukrainian public campaign that emerged late 2011 to advance a fair election process. It is widely known for its critical analysis and evaluation of politicians and the Verkhovna Rada (parliame ...

(21 August 2020) Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and after Vladimir Konstantinov announced of reorganization of the Party of Regions Crimean branch,Party of Regions in Crimea will be reorganized, announced the head of the Supreme Council (Партия регионов в Крыму будет реорганизована, заявил глава ВС)

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

. 12 March 2014In Crimea Party of Regions will be renamed, Konstantinov (В Крыму переименуют Партию регионов – Константинов)
Segodnya. 13 March 2014 members of Party of Regions joined the

.Andrei Sambros.
Cleansing of cadres in Crimea: what was it
'.

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...

. 7 July 2015
Petr Bologov.
How again Party of Regions won election in Crimea (Как Партия регионов опять выиграла выборы в Крыму)
'. Republic.ru. 15 September 2014
Pavel Krivosheev.

'.

. 10 December 2019 Officially according to the TASS news agency and the former leader of the Crimean Party of Region Konstantinov, there is no succession of the United Russia Crimean branch from the Party of Regions Crimean branch,In Crimea was created a regional branch of the "United Russia" party (В Крыму создано региональное отделение партии "Единая Россия")
TASS. 7 April 2014 but, according to several local news resources from Sevastopol, in reality it was organized from former activists of Party of Regions and Russian Unity.Nataliya Nazaruk.
At election the ruling party in Crimea will be led by Aksyonov and Konstantinov (Партию власти в Крыму на выборы поведут Аксёнов и Константинов)
'. ForPost. 14 June 2019
Stanislav Smagin.
How Russian parties came to Crimea and Sevastopol (Как российские партии пришли в Крым и Севастополь)
'. Russkaya Ideya. 6 June 2019Dmitriy Sablin: Bigger portion of the United Russia members in Sevastopol are former members of Party of Regions (Дмитрий Саблин: Большая часть членов «Единой России» в Севастополе – бывшие члены «Партии Регионов»)
Sevastopol Independent Television. 9 February 2019

Current status

As of 2020, the party has effectively disintegrated, with former members joining disparate parties supporting a wide variety of political ideologies and causes, as described above. The party’s former website now redirects to “Golos Pravdy”, a pro-Russia blog website which the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic pro ...

considers to be linked to

Fancy Bear Fancy Bear (also known as APT28 (by Mandiant), Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group (by Kaspersky), Sednit, Tsar Team (by FireEye) and STRONTIUM (by Microsoft)) is a Russian cyber espionage group. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has said with a medium l ...

and run by politicians that fled Ukraine in 2014. The party is still registered as of 12 November 2020, and was involved in legal proceedings as late as 2019. It is officially led by a collective leadership, consisting of Volodymyr Rybak, Volodymyr Pyekhota, and Olha Samofalova.

Party's electoral results

In 2012

Taras Kuzio Taras Kuzio (born 1958) is a British academic and expert in Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs. He is Professor of Political Science at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( Kyiv, Ukraine). Education Taras Kuzio received a ...

claimed the electorate of the party was very loyal to them.Eight Reasons Why Ukraine’s Party of Regions Will Win the 2012 Elections
by

The Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, wh ...

(17 October 2012)
UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again
by

Oxford Analytica Oxford Analytica is an international consulting firm providing strategic analysis of world events. It was founded in 1975 by David Young (Watergate), David Young, an American employee of the United States National Security Council, National Secur ...

(5 October 2007) According to a poll by the Kyiv International Sociology Institute, the number of voters ready to go to polling stations to vote for the Party of Regions dropped from 38% in June 2010 to 13.9% in April 2011.

Recent issue stances

In 2011 the party asserted it had a pragmatic approach to

Ukrainian EU membership Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

with respect to the country's foreign economic interests; it supports "to walk the path of European integration and the implementation of respective standards in the social and economic spheres". Yet, given the European financial crisis at the time, the party saw the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU as "purely theoretical."Regions Party: Question of Ukraine's EU membership now 'purely theoretical'

(15 December 2011) The party accepts

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

as the only

state language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

in Ukraine, but also claims to promote "both the development of the state Ukrainian language and languages of other nationalities residing on the territory of Ukraine". The Party of Regions supports the cancellation of a number of benefits for deputies of the

. Leading party members have stated the party "would mercilessly expel

corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

officials from its ranks". In November 2013 Party of Regions MP

demanded a criminal investigation into the activities of

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

lead TechCamp in

because he believed it was engaged in "preparations for inciting a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

" because during training "instructors share their experience of Internet technologies, which are aimed at shaping public opinion and enhancing the protest potential and which were used to organize street protests in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria". The Party of Regions has lost much of its influence amid the ongoing

crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

in Ukraine. 72 deputies have left the party, and remaining deputies either supported key opposition demands like impeaching Yanukovich, firing Zakharchenko and the General Prosecutor or did not vote. On 23 February, the party faction of Verkhovna Rada published a statement blaming everything wrong on ″Yanukovych and his inner circle″, accusing him in particular of giving out ″criminal orders″ and lamenting that the whole party had been ″in effect hostage of one corrupt Family″. On 7 April 2014 the party presented its new economic doctrine that consisted of minimal taxes and fees, maximum investor protection, increasing investment attractiveness, as well as deregulation and simplification of licensing procedures, the establishment of a transparent tax system and tax cuts (a reduction of income tax to 12.5%, reducing the income tax rate to 14%), decreasing the inspections of small and medium-sized businesses to not more than once in 5 years, maintaining a 15-year preferential tax system in agriculture, the introduction of effective direct subsidies to farmers to compete on the world market, a compensation of 50% of new fixed assets in crop and livestock in creation of new industries.

Political program

European integration

On the question of European integration, different views exist within the party. On the one hand, President Viktor Yanukovych, who is a member of the party, has repeatedly underlined his pro-European stances. On the other hand, experts have described the Party of Regions as

eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

.Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle?

(January 3, 2011)Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe
by

Uwe Backes Uwe Backes (born 2 February 1960 in Greimerath) is a German political scientist and specialist in political extremism. He is a professor at the Technical University Dresden and together with Eckhard Jesse the editor of the ' and '. Backes is ...

and Patrick Moreau, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008, (page 396) The Party's official stance is for increased European integration, but within a framework that is favorable to Ukraine.

Domestic policy

The party supports affordable housing through state mortgages with a 3%

annual percentage rate The term annual percentage rate of charge (APR), corresponding sometimes to a nominal APR and sometimes to an effective APR (EAPR), is the interest rate for a whole year (annualized), rather than just a monthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mo ...

, social contracts with employers, financial aid for newborns (to be doubled in 2017), perinatal centers in each region and the upgrading of

maternity home A maternity home, or maternity housing program, is a form of supportive housing provided to pregnant women. Maternity housing programs support a woman in need of a stable home environment to reach her goals in a variety of areas including educatio ...

s. The party supports at least 75-percent placement in higher-educational institutions, a minimum-wage student stipend, a minimum 20-percent annual raise in educator salaries and universal Internet access. In labor, the party supports fully subsidizing employers of the disabled, orphans, single mothers and workers over age 50; training the unemployed for occupations with labor shortages; providing internships to students; giving young professionals their first job, and a median salary of ₴8,000 by 2017. The party supports a median salary of ₴8,000 for physicians and ₴5,500 for other medical personnel, reducing basic-medicine prices by 30 percent, providing access to medicines to patients with cancer, heart disease, tuberculosis and

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

, mobile medical facilities in all rural areas, treatment and rehabilitation for people with limited physical abilities and new pools, stadiums, ice arenas and sports fields in all regions. The party supports comfortable, affordable housing; security for senior citizens; the repayment of all deposits in the Sberbank of the USSR up to ₴5,000 by 2017; a minimum pension 20 percent over the

poverty threshold The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, and significant pension increases for military and law-enforcement personnel. In the environmental sector, the party supports the completion of the Shelter Project for the

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP; ; ), is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Belarus–Ukraine borde ...

by 2015, the installation of 20,000 centralized water-purification systems and recycling plants in each region.

National economy

* Modern economy ** Main goals: GDP growth (at least 5% annually), stability of national currency ** Implementation through gradual reduction of corporate income tax (16% before 2014), introduction of tax holidays for IT and innovation projects for period of 10 years, providing domestic manufacturers with affordable bank loans * Effective power generation, energy independence ** increase the extraction of domestic coal, oil and

shale gas Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some ...

** begin developing the shelf gas fields ** enhance the use of solar, wind and hydropower ** modernizing power plants for efficient use of domestic coal and other fuels * Rural policy ** creation of 1,500 agricultural cooperatives ** construction of new elevators, vegetable and fruit storage ** establishing prices for land share (no less than 20,000 hrv/ha) and rent (no lower than 1,000 hrv/ha) ** development of social infrastructure in rural areas (auto roads, hospitals and schools, gas supply) * Infrastructure policy ** construction of modern automobile roads (with ability to travel from west to east of Ukraine in 14 hours) ** new speed rail link between the capital and regions ** affordable aviation transportation for each Ukrainian ** construction and redevelopment of airports, sea and river ports, rail stations ** construction of new metro stations and development of commuter transportation

Government and society

Effective nation: responsible government and open society * Civil policy ** intellectual freedom ** freedom of speech ** equal opportunities for women and men in all spheres of life ** legislative support for the native language ** granting to the

the status of the second state language * Regional policy ** increased role of local government ** 60% of consolidated state budget to local councils * Law enforcement and military policy ** contract army ** abolition of compulsory conscription from January 1, 2014 * Foreign policy ** preservation of the non-aligned status of Ukraine – safety guarantee for every citizen ** gaining associate membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, creation of free-trade zone, removal of visa barriers between Ukraine and the EU ** strengthening economic cooperation within the free-trade zone framework with countries of the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010 ...

** strategic partnership with Russia, United States, China ** opening to Ukraine the markets of "Big Twenty" and of developing countries ** realization of competitive advantages of the country for the right to host sporting and cultural events at European and world levels

Selected members

* Mykola Azarov – Chairman * Oleksandr Yefremov – Deputy Chairman of the Party of Regions on Relations with the Parliament of Ukraine * Petro Pysarchuk

''Vremya Regionov''

The Party of Regions publishes a nationwide

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

called ''Время Регионов'' (English trans. ''Time of the Regions''). The newspaper is based and published in

. It is released weekly, every Thursday, in

and Russian. The newspaper was launched on 24 August 2008. It is availabl
online
in

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

format.

References

External links

Official web site of the party
Official web site of parliamentary faction "Regions of Ukraine"
redirection to http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/-->
Press-center of the central staff on local elections

Official website of the youth wing of Party of Regions

Vremya Regionov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Party Of Regions 1997 establishments in Ukraine Centrist parties in Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych Euromaidan Eurosceptic parties in Ukraine Parliamentary factions in Ukraine Political parties established in 1997 Regionalist parties in Ukraine Russian political parties in Ukraine 2016 disestablishments in Ukraine