The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) ( uk, Соцiал-демократична партія України (об'єднана); СДПУ(о)), is a Ukrainian

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 po ...

that was originally established as the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine. At the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 2002 parliamentary elections it won parliamentary seats, but has since then failed to win any seats. When 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 party was influential, but since 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 after ...

(of late 2004Timeline: Battle for Ukraine
. BBC NEWS, 23 January 2005. URL Retrieved 12 September 2006) it has been marginalized.

History

Social Democratic Party of Ukraine

The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціал-демократична партія України) was founded in May 1990. Unlike the originally-united SD, the Social Democratic refused to follow

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

and was against the Ukrainian federalist movement. The party joined the

People's Movement of Ukraine The People's Movement of Ukraine ( uk, Народний Рух України, Narodnyi Rukh Ukrayiny) is a Ukrainian political party and first opposition party in Soviet Ukraine. Often it is simply referred to as the Movement ( uk, Рух, Ru ...

, which already had some of its members in

. During the 1991 presidential elections, it supported

Viacheslav Chornovil Viacheslav Maksymovych Chornovil ( uk, В'ячесла́в Макси́мович Чорнові́л; 24 December 1937 – 25 March 1999) was a Ukrainian politician and Soviet dissident. As a prominent Ukrainian dissident in the Soviet Union, ...

. In May 1992,

Yuriy Zbitnyev Yuriy Ivanovych Zbitnyev ( uk, Юрій Іванович Збітнєв; born October 25, 1963 in Smila Oleksandr Suhonyako Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. Suhonyako, who wanted the party to follow

social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

policies left the party with his supporters. In the spring of 1993, two parties were merged: the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine and the United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (led by

Yuriy Buzduhan Yury, Yuri, Youri, Yurii, Yuriy, Yurij, Iurii or Iouri is the Slavic languages, Slavic (russian: Юрий, Yuriy, or uk, Юрій, Yuriy, or bg, Юрий, Jurij, or be, Юры, Jury) form of the masculine given name George (given name), George ...

) and were registered as a single party, called the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine. Buzduhan was head of the new party. Before the next parliamentary elections, the new party was to be also merged with the

Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine (PDVU) was a political party in 1990-96 that was created as an offshoot of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1996 along with number of other parties, it merged into the People's Democratic Party. ...

, but such agreements fell through, and the parties ran independently. The party elected two People's Deputies in the

1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 27 March 1994, with a second round between 2 and 10 April. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 15 political parties gained seats and the majority of deput ...

, Buzduhan and Hryhoriy Ryhachov.Yuliya Mostova, Serhiy Rakhmanin.
Partisan Ukraine. Part IV Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (УКРАИНА ПАРТИЙНАЯ. ЧАСТЬ VI СОЦИАЛ-ДЕМОКРАТИЧЕСКАЯ ПАРТИЯ УКРАИНЫ (ОБЪЕДИНЕННАЯ))
'. The

Mirror Weekly ''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' ( ua, Дзеркало тижня), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror Weekly'', was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.Social Democratic Party of Ukraine Social Democratic Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соцiал-демократична партія України) is a political party in Ukraine. The party was created after in 1990 after the end of the one party system. The original Social Democratic ...

. The other faction, led by

Yuriy Zbitnyev Yuriy Ivanovych Zbitnyev ( uk, Юрій Іванович Збітнєв; born October 25, 1963 in Smila Ministry of Justice of Ukraine The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine ( uk, Міністерство юстиції України) is the main body in the system of central government of Ukraine that regulates state legal policy. It is often abbreviated as "Мinjust" f Ukraine I ...

where the Zbitnyev's faction of former SDPU merged with Party of Human Rights ( uk, Партія прав людини) of

Vasyl Onopenko Vasyl Onopenko ( uk, Василь Васильович Онопенко; born 10 April 1949) is a Ukrainian judge, and politician. Onopenko is from Vinnytsia Oblast. He graduated the Kharkiv Law Institute in 1975 and later a candidate dissertati ...

and Ukrainian Party of Justice ( uk, Українська партія справедливості) of Mykhailo Hrechka to form the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). The head of the new party was

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...

, while his deputies were

Viktor Medvedchuk Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk ( uk, Віктор Володимирович Медведчук, ; born 7 August 1954) is a Ukrainian lawyer, business oligarch, and politician who is since September 2022 living in exile after being handed over ...

Yuriy Zbitnyev Yuriy Ivanovych Zbitnyev ( uk, Юрій Іванович Збітнєв; born October 25, 1963 in SmilaMykhailo Hrechka. The documents of the new party stated that it was the successor of SDPU, Party of Human Rights and Ukrainian Party of Justice, which all of them were dissolved. However, according to Ukrainian historian Vasyl Yablonskyi, a large portion of SDPU members and majority of Ukrainian Party of Justice never agreed with such decision. The mentioned parties did not only became inactive, but even actively counteracted the newly formed SDPU. The social democrats of Buzduhan accused the leaders of new party in political fraud, and representatives of Ukrainian Party of Justice declared that Mykhailo Hrechka had exceeded his authority.

Viktor Medvedchuk and Hryhoriy Surkis

One of the most powerful blocs within the SDPU(o) consisted of lawyer Viktor Medvedchuk and businessman

Hryhoriy Surkis Hryhoriy Surkis ( ua, Григорій Суркіс; born 4 September 1949) is a Ukrainian businessman, one of five vice-presidents of UEFA since 24 May 2013. Surkis was the president of Football Federation of Ukraine until September 2012.

. Medvedchuk had made a name for himself in the Soviet Union as the government-assigned lawyer of several dissidents, among them the poet

Vasyl Stus Vasyl Semenovych Stus ( uk, Васи́ль Семе́нович Стус; 6 January 1938, Rakhnivka, Ukrainian SSR – 4 September 1985, Perm-36, Kuchino, Russian SFSR) was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active ...

, while Surkis was a football manager. Together, their bloc formed a pro-Russian base within the SDPU(o), which caused great concern among other members, causing them to petition former President

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 ...

to join the party to prevent a takeover. Medvedchuk and Surkis had their own bank as early as 1992, called the Ukrainian Credit Bank, and business holding named "Omega-XXI vek". Political and business opponents of the two claimed that the business holding was an elaborate

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly im ...

which, by 1995, owed to the public 28.2 trillion

Ukrainian karbovanets The ''karbovanets'' or ''karbovanet'' ( uk, карбованець, translit=karbovanets, plural: карбованці, ''karbovantsi'' for 2–4, or карбованців, ''karbovantsiv'' for 5 or more), also known as ''kupon'' ( uk, купо� ...

. Another important business entity of the group was the Slavutych Industrial and Financial Concern, which, starting in 1991-92 was receiving credits from foreign banks for purchase of oil which was refining in Ukraine during next 4 to 5 years. In the mid-1990s, the offices of Slavutych were set on fire, and all accounting records were destroyed. Through Slavutych, in early 1990s, Medvedchuk and Surkis also established close relationships with then-President Kravchuk. According to Kravchuk, the president of Slavutych proposed an economic programme to recover from the economic crisis resulting from the Soviet Union's collapse, which had been received warmly by acting

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 t ...

Yukhym Zvyahilskyi and was soon taken into development by the Ukrainian government. Following the

1994 Ukrainian presidential election Early presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 26 June 1994, with a second round on 10 July. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 They were held ahead of schedule following a compromise between Pr ...

, a special state commission to review the activities of Slavutych was formed, but yielded no results. The newly-elected

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 corrup ...

was at first critical of Medvedchuk and Surkis, but soon after elections was able to find common ground, awarding both of them the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

in 1996.

Further developments

In January 1996, the Ministry of Justice annulled the registration of the SDPU led by Onopenko, and in March 1996 re-registered Buzduhan's faction as the SDPU. In April 1996, Onopenko's organization conducted an extraordinary party congress, where it was decided to change the party's name by adding the word "(united)". In 1996, the party was joined by Surkis and the owners of the Inter television channel, Oleksandr Zinchenko with Ihor Pluzhnikov. By 1998, the leadership of the party had shifted to Medvechuk, Surkis, and Kravchuk. During the presidency of Leonid Kuchma, the party portrayed itself as a centrist, social-democratic moderate political force that advocated for Ukrainian accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and supported Kuchma. The party was closely linked to the presidential administration and big business in

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

. According to Ukrainian newspaper ''Halytski Kontrakty'', in 1998 the Cabinet of Ukraine transferred under administration to the Ukrainian Credit Bank a share stock package of the Zaporizhia Factory of Ferroalloys, as well as number of regional power distributors such as Kirovohrad Power Distribution Company, Ternopil Power Distribution Company, and Kherson Power Distribution Company. The leaders of the SDPU(o) denied any relations to the energy distribution business, and Medvedchuk particularly called it "child's talk" (russian: «Это же детский лепет!»). However, according to the Siberian newspaper ''Negotsiant'', the representative of energy interests for the social democrats was Russian businessman

Konstantin Grigorishin Konstantin Ivanovich Grigorishin (born 16 November 1965) is a Russian- Ukrainian businessman and billionaire.

, who held a place on supervisory boards in several Ukrainian companies, among them Dniprospetsstal, the Zaporizhia Factory of Ferroalloys, Sumy Power Distribution Company, and many others. According to Prometall Ukrainian Informational Agency, Grigorishin, along with his partners Levon and Aleksandr Vardanyan, was one of the governors of the Court Holding Investment Pool Company that owned a number of controlling share packages for several power distribution companies. Grigorishin was also the owner of Sozidanie, which owned number of strategically-important Ukrainian companies, among them the Sumy Engineering Association. 8 СДПУ(о)

At the

1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 29 March 1998. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 The Communist Party of Ukraine remained the largest party in the Verkhovna Rada, winning 121 of the 445 ...

, the SDPU(o) won 4.01% of the vote, primarily in the party's traditional stronghold of

Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre i ...

. During the 1998 parliamentary election, the party ran on a moderate

Ukrainian nationalist Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...

ideology. The party list was significantly shaken up in this election, with political newcomer

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 ser ...

placed near the top ten, and original members Andriy Nosenko and Yuriy Zbitnyev placed below of the top 20. Out of total of 178 names on the party list, only the upper 14 made it to the Verkhovna Rada. Soon after elections in April 1998, Onopenko stated that inclusion of Kravchuk and

Yevhen Marchuk Yevhen Kyrylovych Marchuk ( uk, Євге́н Кири́лович Марчу́к; 28 January 1941 – 5 August 2021) was a Ukrainian politician, intelligence officer, and general who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Ukraine after its inde ...

on the party list, as well as reliance on the Dynamo's ranking was a mistake. Following the statement, the party's board denounced the statement of the party's leader and called for a congress to decide the fate of its leader. The October congress excluded its leader from the party. In October 1998, after Medvedchuk became leader of the party, several prominent former members of the party, led by Onopenko, established the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party. In February 1999, the SDPU(o) also dismissed Marchuk, who wanted with help of the party to run for the President of Ukraine. Marchuk in turn decided to organize own Social Democratic Union before the upcoming elections. During the

1999 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October 1999, with a second round on 14 November. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1976. The result was a victory for Leonid Kuchma, who defeated Petro ...

, the party supported

. The party became the first to nominated the president to run for the second term, and played a key role in his successful campaign.

Shift to Russophilia

During the 2002 parliamentary elections, SDPU(o) won 6.27% of the national vote and 24 seats.Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World, Andrew Wilson,

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universit ...

, 2005, Late poll results in 2002 had predicted the party to win 9 to 10% of total votes. During the 2002 parliamentary election, the party promoted a

Russophile Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th Century ...

agenda which would later become evocative of Medvedchuk's political views. It did considerably better in 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 ...

and

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 po ...

than 4 years earlier. By early January 2003, the SDPU(o) faction consisted of 40 seats. The SDPU(o) opposed

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 ...

's coalition of liberal and nationalist movements, and in March 2002 blamed nationalist elements linked to the pro-Yushchenko " Our Ukraine" alliance for the murder of the vice-governor of

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вська о́бласть, translit=Ivano-Frankivska oblast), also referred to as Ivano-Frankivshchyna ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вщина), is an oblast (region) in western Ukraine ...

, who was an SDPU(o) member. During the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, SDPU(o) also took a strongly pro-Russian and anti-Western stand and backed the candidacy of

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...

. In the aftermath of

's "

", SDPU(o) declared itself to be in opposition to the new government.Medvedchuk emerges from shadows

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. ...

(27 January 2005) Analysts stated that TV channels and other media controlled by the party, such as Inter,

1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, and TET began a sharply anti-American and anti-NATO campaign in response to Yushchenko's pro-Western proposals. Around the time of the Orange Revolution in late 2004, more ten 10 deputies left the SDPU(o) faction in the

; by late January 2005, the faction included 27 deputies out of the Verkhovna Rada's 450 seats.

Political scandals and Orange Revolution

In 2001, Ukrainian historian and politician Dmytro Chobit published a book, titled ''Narcissus'', about Medvedchuk, claiming that he was connected to the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

of Russia. Said claim was later confirmed by another historian,

Yuri Felshtinsky Yuri Georgievich Felshtinsky (russian: Юрий Георгиевич Фельштинский, born 7 September 1956 in Moscow) is a Russian American historian. Felshtinsky has authored a number of books on Russian history, including ''The B ...

, and presaged Medvedchuk's later attempts to connect with Russian forces during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Ivan Rizak, the head of the Zakarpattia SDPU(o) branch and governor of Zakarpattia Oblast, was arrested in May 2005 and charged with abuse of public office and driving a pro-opposition university rector to suicide the year before. That same month, the party was accused of involvement in the 2000 murder of

Georgiy Gongadze Georgiy Ruslanovych Gongadze ka, გიორგი რუსლანის ძე ღონღაძე, Giorgi Ruslanis dze Ghonghadze (21 May 1969 – 17 September 2000) was a Georgian- Ukrainian journalist and film director who was ki ...

, with the journal ''Ukrayina Moloda'' (14 April 2005) accusing party members of using the dead journalist's corpse in a plot to discredit President Leonid Kuchma and force early elections, which could have led to Medvedchuk succeeding Kuchma. The SDPU(o) claimed these accusations to be part of a political campaign by the Ukrainian Government. Supporters of the Orange Revolution, on the other hand, have claimed that the party enjoyed privileged status under Kuchma and was closely associated with big business, organized crime, corruption, and government media. Despite being one of the most active political parties, with a wide range of political activities and a significant number of student and youth members, the SDPU(o) lost a significant number of votes due to the notoriety of its leaders for their business and political practices.

Post-Orange Revolution

Before the 2006 parliamentary elections, some commentators regarded the SDPU(o) as one of three hard-line anti-Yushchenko forces, with the others being

's Party of Regions and

Petro Symonenko Petro Mykolayovych Symonenko ( uk, Петро́ Микола́йович Симоне́нко; born 1 August 1952) is a Ukrainian politician and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Symonenko was the C ...

's Communist Party of Ukraine. At the time, the SDPU(o) also became close to the

Socialist Party of Ukraine The Socialist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціалістична Партія України, translit=Sotsialistychna Partiia Ukrayiny, SPU) was a social democratic and democratic socialist political party in Ukraine. It was one of the oldest par ...

. During the

2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, the party was part of the Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak", and failed to clear the 3% minimum to get into the Verkhovna Rada, thus losing all of its seats. The SDPU(o) has considered various concepts in an effort to regain its status as a viable force in Ukrainian politics. The current leader is

Yuriy Zahorodnyi Yuriy Ivanovych Zahorodnyi ( uk, Юрій Іванович Загородній; born 7 May 1959) is a Ukrainian politician and a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 9th convocation. Early life and career Yuriy Ivanovych Zahorodnyi was born on ...

, who was also a member of the pro-Russian

Opposition Platform — For Life The Opposition Platform – For Life ( uk, Опозиційна платформа – За життя; russian: Оппозиционная платформа – За жизнь, OPZZh) was a parliamentary and now banned pro-Russian and Eurosc ...

until its ban and dissolution amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The party did not participate in the

2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovn ...

.Соціал-демократична партія України (об'єднана)
Database DATA The party participated in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election as part of the Bloc of Left and Center-left Forces. This decision caused Kravchuk to leave the party, with him declaring he had left due to the party's political council behind the closed doors in non-democratic order. Kravchuk also referred to the Bloc of Left and Center-left Forces as "an artificial union without any perspectives." The party did not take part in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election nationwide proportional party-list system; instead, one member of the party tried to win a seat in one of the 225 local single-member districts; in this district, situated in

Brovary Brovary ( uk, Бровари, , yi, בראָוואַר, Brovar) is a city in Kyiv Oblast (Region) in northern Ukraine, an eastern suburb of the country's capital, Kyiv. It is the administrative centre of Brovary Raion (district). Brovary ...

, the candidate got 340 votes (the winner 31,678 votes) and thus failed to win a seat in the Verkhovna Rada.Results of the vote count

(9 November 2012) The party failed again to win a seat in the 7 July 2013 by-election in constituency 224 in

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. The party did not participate in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.Alphabetical Index of parties in 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Central Election Commission of Ukraine

Oil-for-Food Programme

The party received 1 million barrels worth of oil vouchers in the United Nations

Oil-for-Food Programme The Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP), established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) was established to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs fo ...

Election results

Verkhovna Rada

Party leaders

* 1990–1991 Andriy Nosenko * 1991–1992 Oleksandr Suhonyako * 1992–1993

Yuriy Zbitnyev Yuriy Ivanovych Zbitnyev ( uk, Юрій Іванович Збітнєв; born October 25, 1963 in Smila Yuriy Buzduhan Yury, Yuri, Youri, Yurii, Yuriy, Yurij, Iurii or Iouri is the Slavic languages, Slavic (russian: Юрий, Yuriy, or uk, Юрій, Yuriy, or bg, Юрий, Jurij, or be, Юры, Jury) form of the masculine given name George (given name), George ...

(merger) * 1995–1998

* 1998–2007

* 2007–present

References

External links

United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine
Official site {{Authority control 1990 establishments in Ukraine Parliamentary factions in Ukraine Political parties established in 1990 Political parties in Ukraine Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union Social democratic parties in the Soviet Union Social democratic parties in Ukraine