Vitold Fokin

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Ukraine from 1990 to 1992}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Vitold Fokin

| native_name = {{nobold|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{{efn|As Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic until 18 April 1991. Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991.}}

| 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 date|df=yes|1932|10|25}}

| birth_place = Novomykolaivka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2025|03|20|1932|10|25}}

| death_place = Kyiv, Ukraine

| party = Independent

| otherparty = CPU (until 1991)

| alma_mater = National Mining University of Ukraine

| spouse = {{marriage|Tomila Fokina||2023|end=died}}{{cite web |url=https://davniyhalych.if.ua/spivachka-masha-fokina-povidomila-pro-smert-babysi-novini-ykraini/ |title=Співачка Маша Фокіна повідомила про смерть бабусі - Новини України |date=9 October 2023 |language=uk}}

| children = 2

| signature = Vitold Fokin Signature 1974.png

| native_name_lang = uk

}}

Vitold Pavlovych Fokin ({{langx|uk|Віто́льд Па́влович Фо́кін}}; 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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=qmN95fFocsMC&q=Fokin&pg=PA850 Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States 1999], Routledge, 1998, {{ISBN|1857430581}} (page 850)

Early life

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

Prime Minister of Ukraine

File:RIAN archive 37986 Yeltsin, Kravchuk and Shushkevich.jpg, Boris Yeltsin, and Stanislav Shushkevich on 8 December 1991]]

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

On 12 September 1991, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) adopted its resolution on "Succession of Ukraine"[http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1543-12 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.[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

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.{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DE1431F93AA35752C1A964958260&scp=6&sq=ukraine%20fokin&st=cse|title=New Leader in a Lament for Ukraine|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 November 1992|last1=Schmemann|first1=Serge}} Until May 1994, he was vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. He served as chairman of the supervisory board of AOZT Devon.

After retirement

File:Фокин В.П..JPG

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".[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)

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.{{cite news |title=Будинок у Києві, куди влучила збита ракета, належить колишньому прем'єру Фокіну |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-budynok-zbyta-raketa-fokin/31774922.html |work=Радіо Свобода |date=28 March 2022 |language=uk}}

Fokin died in Kyiv on 20 March 2025, at the age of 92.{{cite news |title=Ukraine's first Prime Minister Vitold Fokin dies at 92 |url=https://kyivindependent.com/ukraines-first-prime-minister-vitold-fokin-dies/ |work=The Kyiv Independent |date=20 March 2025 |language=en}}

References

Notes

External links

{{IMDb name| 12351455}}
[http://www.bulvar.com.ua/arch/2012/43/5087a8606b3ca/ Interview of Fokin], Boulevard of Gordon; 23 October 2012.
[https://gordonua.com/publications/pervyy-premer-ministr-ukrainy-fokin-donbass-eto-uzhe-pustoy-oreh-uglya-tam-net-gaza-net-metallurgicheskie-kompleksy-gruda-metalla-177149.html Interview of Fokin], Boulevard of Gordon; 7 March 2017.

{{s-bef|before=Ivan Samiylenko|as=Head of government of the Ukrainian People's Republic (in exile)}}

{{s-ttl|rows=2|title=Prime Minister of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine)| years=1991–1992}}

{{s-bef|before=himself|as=Chairman of Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR}}

{{succession box | title=Chairman of Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine) | before=Vitaliy Masol | after=himself
(as Prime Minister of the Ukrainian SSR) | years=1990–1991}}

Category:1932 births

Category:2025 deaths

Category:People from Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Category:Dnipro Polytechnic alumni

Category:Chairpersons of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine

Category:Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians

Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Category:Directors of the State Planning Committee of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Category:First deputy chairpersons of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine

Category:First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada

Category:Tenth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Category:Eleventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic