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Vitold Fokin

Prime Minister of Ukraine from 1990 to 1992

Field	Value
name	Vitold Fokin
native_name	Вітольд Фокін
image	НДУ 1 Фокін Вітольд Павлович.jpg
caption	Official portrait, 1990
president	Leonid Kravchuk
predecessor	Vitaliy Masol (Soviet)
successor	Valentyn Symonenko (acting)
order	1st
office	Prime Minister of Ukraine
term_start	23 October 1990
term_end	1 October 1992
(Acting until 14 November 1990)
office2	Chairman of DerzhPlan
primeminister2	Vitaliy Masol
office1	Member of the Verkhovna Rada
term_start1	21 March 1991
term_end1	5 October 1994
term_start2	July 1987
term_end2	1990
predecessor2	Vitaliy Masol
successor2	Position abolished
birth_date
birth_place	Novomykolaivka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
death_date
death_place	Kyiv, Ukraine
party	Independent
otherparty	CPU (until 1991)
alma_mater	National Mining University of Ukraine
spouse
children	2
signature	Vitold Fokin Signature 1974.png
native_name_lang	uk

(Acting until 14 November 1990)

Vitold Pavlovych Fokin (; 25 October 1932 – 20 March 2025) was a Ukrainian politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Ukraine from the country's declaration of independence on 24 August 1991 until 1 October 1992. He had earlier served as the prime minister of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 23 October 1990 to 24 August 1991.

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

Early life

Fokin graduated from the National Mining University of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk.

Prime Minister of Ukraine

On 18 April 1991, Fokin was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine.

On 12 September 1991, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) adopted its resolution on "Succession of Ukraine" where Ukraine was declared a direct successor of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 22 August 1992, at a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada President Leonid Kravchuk accepted a succession diploma from the exiled government of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

Fokin was one of the drafters and signers of the Belavezha Accords that effectively ended the Soviet Union and founded the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before his death, he was the last living signatory.

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 (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 served 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, where Fokin attempted to justify the Russian annexation of Crimea following his appointment to the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, a contact group of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe which sought to facilitate a diplomatic resolution of the war in Donbas. On 30 September 2020, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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".

On 27 March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Russian missile hit Fokin's house; Fokin himself was not injured because he was in Moldova at the time.

Fokin died in Kyiv on 20 March 2025, at the age of 92.

References

Notes

References

(9 October 2023). "Співачка Маша Фокіна повідомила про смерть бабусі - Новини України".
1857430581 (page 850)
Resolution of [[Verkhovna Rada]] "[http://zakon1.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/984-XII About appointment of Prime Minister of the Ukrainian SSR]". [[Verkhovna Rada]] website. 18 April 1991.
[http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1543-12 Succession of Ukraine]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20161015141733/http://www.istpravda.com.ua/videos/2012/01/22/69657/ 1992: The last president of the Ukrainian People's Republic hands over to Kravchuk regalia]. [[Ukrayinska Pravda]]. 22 January 2012
(9 November 1992). "New Leader in a Lament for Ukraine". The New York Times.
[https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3109259-president-zelensky-dismisses-fokin-from-tcg.html President Zelensky dismisses Fokin from TCG], [[Ukrinform]] (30 September 2020){{in lang. uk [https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2020/09/30/7268251/ Zelensky fired Fokin from the TCG], [[Ukrayinska Pravda]] (30 September 2020)
(28 March 2022). "Будинок у Києві, куди влучила збита ракета, належить колишньому прем'єру Фокіну". Радіо Свобода.
(20 March 2025). "Ukraine's first Prime Minister Vitold Fokin dies at 92". The Kyiv Independent.

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