The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine 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 Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the 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 The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012."Revival" "our land": Who picks up the legacy of "regionals"
BBC Ukrainian (16 September 2015)
Party of Regions: Snake return
The Ukrainian Week (2 October 2015) The best known former party members are former Prime Minister

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov ( uk, Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, ; née, né Pakhlo; Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January ...

and former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych; both fled to Russia in February 2014 after

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

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

(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. 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 Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine (head of coordination council –

Gennadiy Samofalov Gennady ( rus, Геннадий, p=ɡʲɪˈnadʲɪj), also spelled Gennadi or Gennadiy, is a Russian male name. They are derived from the Greek given name Gennadius. People *Gennady Gladkov, Soviet and Russian composer *Gennady Golovkin, Kazakh bo ...

). 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 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 Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...

and

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

s. 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 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 languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

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 Leonid Kuchma 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 For or FOR may refer to: English language *For, a preposition *For, a complementizer *For, a grammatical conjunction Science and technology * Fornax, a constellation * for loop, a programming language statement * Frame of reference, in phys ...

( Leonid Chernovetsky), All-Ukrainian Party of Pensioners (A. Kapusta), Party of Labor (Valentyn Landyk), Party of Solidarity of Ukraine ( Petro Poroshenko), 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 Valentyn ( uk, Валентин) is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Valentyn Demyanenko, Ukrainian sprint canoeist * Valentyn Grekov (born 1976), Ukrainian judoka * Valentyn Kravchuk (born 1944), Ukrainian rower * Valentyn Pol ...

, Petro Poroshenko, 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 h ...

, the

Peasant Party of Ukraine The Peasant Party of Ukraine (, ''Selyans'ka Partiya Ukrayiny'', SelPU) is an agrarian and socialist political party in Ukraine. It was created in 1992 as a successor of the Communist Party of Ukraine that was temporarily outlawed in 1991. At t ...

, which dissolved its union with Solidarity. On February 21, 2001, the Ministry of Justice 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

, 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 S ...

, 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 Ministry of Justice 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 (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
Central European University (26 March 2001) Nine out of seventeen members of the faction had their political and business roots in the

Donetsk region The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

. 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,

M.E. Sharpe M. E. Sharpe, Inc., an academic publisher, was founded by Myron Sharpe in 1958 with the original purpose of publishing translations from Russian in the social sciences and humanities. These translations were published in a series of journals, the ...

, 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 during the 2002 parliamentary elections.) During the

Ukrainian parliamentary election Elections in Ukraine are held to choose the president ( head of state), Verkhovna Rada ( legislature), and local governments. Referendums may be held on special occasions. Ukraine has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which ofte ...

the party was a member of the For United Ukraine

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 parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

. It was then led by Volodymyr Semynozhenko. From 21 November 2002 until 7 December 2004, Viktor Yanukovych was Prime Minister of Ukraine. 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'' (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 * L ...

and became much more populist 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 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. 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. 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. 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 people ...

, 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 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 European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

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 Russia's " United Russia".Party of Regions hopes for strengthening collaboration with 'United Russia' party
Kyiv Post (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 Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served ...

has advised the party and Yanukovych since 2005.Paid advisers descend on candidates, nation
Kyiv Post (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 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 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, 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! "For Yanukovych!" ( uk, За Януковича!, Russian: За Януковича!) was a political alliance in Crimea (an autonomous republic within Ukraine) between the Party of Regions and the Russian Bloc during the 2006 Crimean parliamentary ...

election 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 parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

. On 19 January 2007, Yevhen Kushnaryov, a member of the Party of Regions, died in Izium 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 Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc 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 Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (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. Prime Minister 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 (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 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 to address the economic crisis 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 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

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 were ...

, the chairmen of which were the member of parliament Dmytro Shentsev ( Kharkiv) 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 Verkhovna Rada and form a new government if Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential elections. Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine on 7 February 2010. On 19 February the Ukrainian parliament terminated the powers of Ukrainian Member of Parliament (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 from heading a political party) and handed over leadership in the party and in the parliamentary faction to

. 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 first Azarov government ( uk, Перший уряд Миколи Азарова, Russian: Первое правительство Николая Азарова) was Ukraine's cabinet from (appointed on) March 11, 2010 till December 3, 2012 ( ...

. The party elected a new Chairman at its 12th congress on 23 April 2010. Prime Minister

was elected.Azarov elected Regions Party head
'' Kyiv Post'' (23 April 2010) Seven extra deputies (four Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (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 The 2010 Crimean parliamentary election were held on 31 October 2010 as a part of the general 2010 Ukrainian local elections. Unlike the previous election to the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, they were conducted on the mixed member proportional rep ...

(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 Central ...

(4 October 2010) It was the only party that won representatives in all Ukrainian oblasts 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 Austria ...

). In Crimea, 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- 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. 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 most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

's Communist Party.Regions Party planning to sign memorandum on cooperation with Communist Party of China
Kyiv Post (14 September 2010) On 14 October 2010, the Party of Regions formed a co-operative arrangement with the

Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

European parliamentary group The political groups of the European Parliament are the officially recognised political groups consisting of legislators of aligned ideologies in the European Parliament. The European Parliament is unique among supranational assemblies in tha ...

.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, 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
Kyiv Post (22 October 2011) Strong Ukraine to prepare its proposals to Regions Party on posts distribution, says Tigipko
Kyiv Post (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'' (12 December 2011) Strong Ukraine and Party of Regions merged on 17 March 2012.Tigipko hooks up with Party of Regions
'' Kyiv Post'' (20 March 2012)
Strong Ukraine party decides on disbanding to join Regions Party
Kyiv Post (17 March 2012) (Former) Strong Ukraine leader Serhiy Tyhypko 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 between the Kazakhstani Nur Otan 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 (falling from 34% in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

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 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

) 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 Ukrainian Parliament. 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 A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

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 the ...

asking to recognize the

Volhynian tragedy The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia ( pl, rzeź wołyńska, lit=Volhynian slaughter; uk, Волинська трагедія, lit=Volyn tragedy, translit=Volynska trahediia), were carried out in German-occupied Poland by th ...

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

.Ukraine's Maidan protests - one year on
The Guardian (21 November 2014)
Goals of Euromaidan were the impeachment of President Yanukovych and snap elections. Late January 2014 the party's symbol and activities were banned in the

, Ternopil 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 O ...

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 Capital city, a ...

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 Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

, the Ukrainian parliament voted to impeach the honorary chairman of the party, Viktor Yanukovych, as President of Ukraine.Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president
BBC News (23 February 2014)
Ukraine protests timeline
BBC News (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

fled to Russia. 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 Oleksandr Yefremov or Aleksandr Efremov ( uk, Олександр Сергійович Єфремов, russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ефре́мов) is a Ukrainian former parliamentarian and politician. A former governor o ...

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
Kyiv Post (24 February 2014) On 25 February 2014 Anatoliy Kinakh and 32 other mostly former PoR deputies created the parliamentary faction Economic Development.Rada creates Group for Economic Development
, Radio Ukraine (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 polit ...

, ex-chairman of the Ministry of Revenue and Duties Olexander Klimenko, former Energy Minister

Eduard Stavitskyi Eduard Anatoliyovych Stavytsky ( uk, Едуард Анатолійович Ставицький, born 4 October 1972) is a Ukrainian politician and government official who held several ministerial portfolios in the Azarov Government (2012–2014 ...

, ex-governor of the Donetsk region

Andrew Shishatskiy Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derive ...

and Valery Konovalyuk. On 7 April 2014 the political council of the party expelled

Sergiy Tigipko 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 ...

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 Yuriy Anatoliyovych Boyko ( uk, Юрій Анатолійович Бойко, russian: Ю́рий Анато́льевич Бо́йко; born 9 October 1958) is a Ukrainian politician who served as one of the Vice Prime Ministers of Ukraine betwe ...

from the party.Ukraine's Party of Regions expels presidential hopefuls Tigipko, Tsariov and Boiko

(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 (3 June 2014) A by-product of this was that it became the second biggest faction in parliament, after the faction of Batkivshchyna 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.
Ukrayinska Pravda (2 July 2014)''Dynamics in the fraction For Peace and Stability in the VII convocation''
Verkhovna Rada 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. 07 Oct 2014
Ishaan Tharoor.
Watch: Ukrainian politician gets dump in the trash
'. Washington Post. 16 September 2014
Katya Gorchinskaya.
Frustrated over lack of justice, Ukrainians throw officials in trash (VIDEO)
'. Kyiv Post. 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 ...

, 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 Sergey Yevgenyevich Naryshkin ( rus, Серге́й Евге́ньевич Нары́шкин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej jɪˈvɡʲenʲɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈrɨʂkʲɪn; born 27 October 1954) is a Russian politician and businessman who has served as the dire ...

, 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 grou ...

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 house ...

. On September 25, 2014, the Central Investigation Administration of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs 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 The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

several party members called for the disintegration of Ukraine and a union with the Russian Federation. They claim that

, 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 Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov (russian: Владимир Николаевич Константинов; born March 19, 1967) is a Russians, Russian-Americans, American former professional ice hockey player who played his entire National Hocke ...

, 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 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 could not vote in the election.What distinguishes the "opposition bloc" of the Party of Regions?
BBC Ukrainian (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 (23 September 2014)
Allies of Yanukovych trying for parliament
Kyiv Post (21 September 2014)
Party Of Regions Will Not Contest Snap Parliamentary Elections Independently
Ukrainian News Agency (14 September 2014) Party of Regions has not participated in elections since the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012. 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);Activists noticed that most ex-Regions are on lists of Poroshenko
Ukrayinska Pravda (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" (21 August 2020) Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and after

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 asse ...

. 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 United Russia.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 Russian Unity ( uk, Руська Єдність; russian: Русское Единство) was a political party in Crimea, registered in October 2008.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 prosp ...

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 level ...

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 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 Taras Kuzio, The Jamestown Foundation (17 October 2012)
UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again
by Taras Kuzio, Oxford Analytica (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 * Som ...

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'
Kyiv Post (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 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 Ukrainian parliament. Leading party members have stated the party "would mercilessly expel corrupt officials from its ranks". In November 2013 Party of Regions MP

demanded a criminal investigation into the activities of United States Department of State lead TechCamp in Ukraine because he believed it was engaged in "preparations for inciting a civil war" 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 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 reform ...

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

(January 3, 2011)Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe
by Uwe Backes and Patrick Moreau,

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V&R) is a scholarly publishing house based in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded in 1735 by (1700-1750) in connection with the establishment of the Georg-August-Universität in the same city. After Abraham Vandenhoec ...

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

₴ The hryvnia sign (₴) is a currency symbol, used for the Ukrainian hryvnia currency since 2004. Description The hryvnia sign is a cursive minuscule Ukrainian alphabet, Ukrainian Cyrillic letter He (Cyrillic), He (''г''), or a mirrored letter S ...

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, 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, 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 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 ** 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, 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 ** 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

– Chairman *

– Deputy Chairman of the Party of Regions on Relations with the Parliament of Ukraine *

Petro Pysarchuk Petro Pysarchuk ( uk, Петро Іванович Писарчук, born June 6, 1955, in :uk: Чемеринці, Chemeryntsi, village, Peremyshliany Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian Politician and Entrepreneur. People's Deput ...

''Vremya Regionov''

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

History

Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine

Creation of the Party of Regions

Electoral breakthrough

2006 Parliamentary Election results

2007 Parliamentary Election results

Yanukovych presidency

2012 Parliamentary Election results

Post-Yanukovych presidency

Yanukovych impeachment

Criminal case against deputies/party members support for separatism

2014 Parliamentary Election and disintegration

Current status

Party's electoral results

Recent issue stances

Political program

European integration

Domestic policy

National economy

Government and society

Selected members

''Vremya Regionov''

See also

References

External links