Vitold Pavlovych Fokin ( uk, Віто́льд Па́влович Фо́кін; born 25 October 1932) is a Ukrainian retired politician who served as the first

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 ...

from the country's

declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

on 24 August 1991 until 1 October 1992. Previously, he served as Prime Minister of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

from 23 October 1990 to 24 August 1991. Fokin graduated from the National Mining University of Ukraine in

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

. After Vitaliy Masol was forced to resign, Fokin was appointed Head of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR on 17 October 1990.

Prime Minister of Ukraine

On 18 April 1991, Vitold Fokin was appointed

. On 12 September 1991, 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 ...

(Ukraine's parliament) adopted its resolution on "Succession of Ukraine" where Ukraine was declared a direct successor of the

. On 22 August 1992, at a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk ( uk, Леонід Макарович Кравчук; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed ...

accepted a succession diploma from the exiled government of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

. Fokin was one of the drafters and signers of the

Belavezha Accords The Belovezh Accords ( be, Белавежскае пагадненне, link=no, russian: Беловежские соглашения, link=no, uk, Біловезькі угоди, link=no) are accords forming the agreement declaring that the ...

that effectively ended the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and founded 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 ...

. During his time as prime minister, he avoided radical pro-market reforms, although critics have argued that Fokin's inaction on the matter and excessive subsidies to various unproductive enterprises contributed to

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

(at 1,210% in 1992) and in general to the poor performance of the Ukrainian economy. He resigned on 8 October 1992, under pressure from the Verkhovna Rada and the general public. Until May 1994, he was vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. He currently serves as chairman of the supervisory board of AOZT Devon.

After retirement

In 2020, the pro-Russian 112 Ukraine TV channel published information about a 2017 interview Fokin gave to Ukrainian journalist

Dmitry Gordon Dmitry Ilyich Gordon ( uk, Дмитро Ілліч Гордон, Dmytro Illich Hordon, russian: Дмитрий Ильич Гордон; born October 21, 1967) is a Ukrainian journalist, interviewer, politician and singer. He is also the editor- ...

, where Fokin attempted to justify the

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv t ...

following his appointment to the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, a contact group of representatives from

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 ...

, Russia, and the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

which sought to facilitate a diplomatic resolution of the War in Donbas. On 30 September 2020, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

signed a decree dismissing Fokin from the Trilateral Contact Group because he had not been guided in his "activities and statements by the national interests of Ukraine." Fokin was dismissed a few days after he had claimed that there was "no war between Russia and Ukraine in

Donbas 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 ...

".President Zelensky dismisses Fokin from TCG

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...

(30 September 2020)Zelensky fired Fokin from the TCG

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 ...

(30 September 2020)

References

Notes

External links

Interview of Fokin
Boulevard of Gordon; 23 October 2012.

Boulevard of Gordon; 7 March 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fokin, Vitold Living people 1932 births Prime Ministers of Ukraine People from Zaporizhzhia Oblast Ukrainian people of Greek descent Chairpersons of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine Vice Prime Ministers of Ukraine Directors of the State Planning Committee of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Eleventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Tenth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians Independent politicians in Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class Dnipro Polytechnic alumni Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology People of the Revolution on Granite