Ukrainian oligarchs

The Ukrainian oligarchs are a group of business oligarchs that quickly appeared on the economic and political scene of Ukraine after its independence in 1991, just as happened in neighboring post-Soviet state Russia. As of 2008, the combined wealth of Ukraine's 50 richest oligarchs is equal to 85% of Ukraine's GDP.

Oligarchs are usually defined as businessmen having direct influence on both politics and economy. During the 1990s, the oligarchs emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and got rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but democratically elected government of Ukraine during the state's transition to a market-based economy. Later numerous Ukrainian businesspeople have "taken over control" of political parties (examples of this are Party of Greens of Ukraine, Labour Ukraine and Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)) or started new ones to gain seats and influence in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament).

Ukrainian

Ukrainian may refer to:

See also

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian ⁱ/juːˈkreɪniən/ (українська мова ukrayins'ka mova, pronounced [ukrɑˈjiɲsʲkɐ ˈmɔwɐ]) is an East Slavic language. It is the official state language of Ukraine and first of two principal languages of Ukrainians; it is one of the three official languages in the unrecognized state of Transnistria, the other two being Moldovan and Russian. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic script (see Ukrainian alphabet).

Until the 20th century it was known in Russia as Little-Russian language (Russian: малорусский язык, малороссийский язык), while in Poland as Rusyn language or Ruthenian language (Polish: język rusiński).

Historical linguists trace the origin of the Ukrainian language to the Old East Slavic of the early medieval state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of the Kievan Rus' as well as the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the language developed into a form called the Ruthenian language. The Modern Ukrainian language has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate. From 1804 until the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian language was banned from schools in the Russian Empire, of which the biggest part of Ukraine (Central, Eastern and Southern) was a part at the time. It has always maintained a sufficient base in Western Ukraine, where the language was never banned, in its folklore songs, itinerant musicians, and prominent authors.