Vitold Fokin

Vitold Fokin Вітольд Фокін
Fokin in 2007
1st Prime Minister of Ukraine
In office 23 October 1990 – 1 October 1992 (acting until 24 August 1991)
President	Leonid Kravchuk
Preceded by	Vitaliy Masol (UkrSSR)
Succeeded by	Valentyn Symonenko (Acting)
Chairman of DerzhPlan
In office July 1987 – 1990
Prime Minister	Vitaliy Masol
Preceded by	Vitaliy Masol
Succeeded by	post abolished
Personal details
Born	(1932-10-25) 25 October 1932 (age 88) Novomykolaivka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR (now Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine)
Political party	Independent (until 1990 KP(b)U)
Spouse(s)	Tomila Hryhoriivna
Children	2
Alma mater	National Mining University of Ukraine
Signature

Vitold Pavlovych Fokin (Ukrainian: Віто́льд Па́влович Фо́кін; born 25 October 1932 in Novomykolaivka, Novomykolaivka Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) is a retired politician of Ukrainian origin who was appointed deputy prime minister of Ukraine in November 1991.

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

After Vitaliy Masol was forced to resign, Fokin was appointed Head of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR on 17 October 1990.^[1]

Prime Minister of Ukraine[]

On 18 April 1991, Vitold Fokin was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine.^[2]

On 12 September 1991 the Ukrainian parliament adopted its resolution on "Succession of Ukraine" where Ukraine was declared a direct successor of the Ukrainian SSR. On 22 August 1992, at a plenary session of Ukrainian parliament, President Leonid Kravchuk accepted a succession diploma from the exiled government of the Ukrainian People's Republic.^[3]

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.

During his time as prime minister he tried to avoid any radical pro-market reforms, although critics argued that Fokin's inaction on the matter and excessive bonuses 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 Ukrainian parliament and the general public.^[4] Until May 1994, he was vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. He currently serves as chairman of the supervisory board of .

After retirement[]

In 2020, the pro-Russian 112 Ukraine TV channel published information about a 2017 interview Fokin gave to Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon where Fokin tried to reason as to why Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, after Fokin was appointed 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 that is facilitating a diplomatic resolution of the War in Donbass).^[5] On 30 September 2020, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 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."^[5] Fokin was dismissed a few days after he had claimed that there was "no war between Russia and Ukraine in Donbass".^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• Interview of Fokin, Boulevard of Gordon; 23 October 2012.
• Interview of Fokin, Boulevard of Gordon; 7 March 2017.