{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox election
| country = Ukraine
| type = presidential
| previous_election = 1994 Ukrainian presidential election
| previous_year = 1994
| next_election = 2004 Ukrainian presidential election
| next_year = 2004
| election_date = 31 October 1999 (first round)
14 November 1999 (second round)
| turnout = 70.15% (first round) {{decrease}} 0.22[[percentage point|pp]]
74.87% (second round) {{increase}} 3.24[[percentage point|pp]]
| image1 = Leonid Kuchma in 1999.jpg
| nominee1 = '''[[Leonid Kuchma]]'''
| party1 = Independent politician
| popular_vote1 = '''15,870,722'''
| percentage1 = '''57.70%'''
| image2 = НДУ 3 Симоненко Петро Миколайович.jpg
| nominee2 = {{nowrap|[[Petro Symonenko]]}}
| party2 = Communist Party of Ukraine
| popular_vote2 = 10,665,420
| percentage2 = 38.77%
| map_image = {{Switcher
| [[File:1999 Ukrainian presidential election, first round.svg|300px]]
| First round results by oblast
| [[File:1999 Ukrainian presidential election, second round.svg|300px]]
| Second round results by oblast
| default = 2
}}
| title = President
| before_election = [[Leonid Kuchma]]
| before_party = Independent politician
| after_election = [[Leonid Kuchma]]
| after_party = Independent politician
}}
[[Ukrainian presidential elections|Presidential elections]] were held in [[Ukraine]] on 31 October 1999, with a second round on 14 November.{{sfn|Nohlen|Stöver|2010|p=1976}} The result was a victory for [[Leonid Kuchma]], who defeated [[Petro Symonenko]] in the run-off, winning a second consecutive presidential election.
Kuchma, who had been elected on a leftist programme in [[1994 Ukrainian presidential election|1994]] before subsequently abandoning it for [[economic liberalisation]], was extremely unpopular prior to the election, with a reputation for [[patronage]] and ties to large corporations and organised crime. Two major opponents of Kuchma were unable to compete in the election: [[Pavlo Lazarenko]] of the centrist [[Hromada (political party)|Hromada]] was arrested in the United States on money laundering and embezzlement charges, while [[Viacheslav Chornovil]], leader of the centre-right ''[[People's Movement of Ukraine|Rukh]]'', died in a traffic collision under disputed circumtances. Kuchma's main opponents were [[Oleksandr Moroz]], leader of the centre-left [[Socialist Party of Ukraine|Socialist Party]], and far-left candidates [[Petro Symonenko]] and [[Nataliya Vitrenko]]; Moroz, Kuchma's most significant opponent, was eliminated in the first round, and Kuchma campaigned against the uncharismatic and unpopular Symonenko as a supporter of [[Russian imperialism]] and an opponent of Ukrainian independence.
The first round was marked by the {{ill|Kaniv Four|uk|Канівська четвірка}}, a quadrumvirate of Moroz and three other candidates who pledged to drop out in support of the highest-polled candidate. The alliance collapsed shortly before the first round of voting, possibly as a result of government interference. A falsified assassination attempt against Vitrenko was also blamed on Moroz. In the second round, Kuchma accused Symonenko of supporting Soviet and Russian atrocities. Symonenko attempted to moderate his position, expressing support for private business and renouncing the possibility of Ukraine joining the [[Union State]], but his appeals were not widely published outside of communist press. Symonenko was largely supported by social conservatives, [[Pan-Slavism|Pan-Slavist]]s and leftists, while Kuchma benefited from a significant number of voters seeing him as a lesser evil than communism.
Kuchma utilised extensive administrative resources, including state media, the [[Security Service of Ukraine|Security Service]] and the [[Office of the President of Ukraine|presidential administration]], to harass his political opponents and benefit his re-election. He additionally pressured banks and [[Ukrainian oligarchs|oligarchs]] to provide him with financial backing. The [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] referred to the conduct of the election as "a disgrace", noting a [[media blackout]] against opposition candidates. Local governments pressured state employees to vote for Kuchma and utilised governmental resources to encourage turnout.
As of {{CURRENTYEAR}}, this is the only re-election of an incumbent president in the history of independent Ukraine.
==Background==
[[Leonid Kuchma]] had been elected [[president of Ukraine]] in the [[1994 Ukrainian presidential election|1994 election]], succeeding [[Leonid Kravchuk]]. Kuchma, who came from [[eastern Ukraine]], initially ran on a leftist campaign of opposition to [[Ukrainian nationalism]] and bilingualism between the [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Russian language|Russian]] languages. After being elected, however, Kuchma abandoned his previous leftist rhetoric and supported Kravchuk's policies of [[nation-building]], though he abandoned Kravchuk's emphasis on [[ethnic nationalism|ethnic]] and linguistic nationalism for [[civic nationalist]] policies and placed increased attention on economic concerns, which Kuchma and his advisers viewed as hindering nation-building.{{sfn|D'Anieri|Kravchuk|Kuzio|1999|pp=62–63}}
Prior to the election, Kuchma was extremely unpopular; a March 1999 poll from ''[[The Day (Kyiv)|The Day]]'', a Kyivan newspaper, registered 7% of voters as trusting Kuchma, and a November 1998 poll from ''The Day'' indicated that 31% of voters said they would never vote for him, the highest number above all candidates.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=434}} In the [[1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election|1998 parliamentary election]], the two main pro-Kuchma parties (the [[People's Democratic Party (Ukraine)|People's Democratic Party]] and the [[Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)]]) together gathered less than 10% of the vote.{{sfn|Matsuzato|2001|p=416}}
===Corporate rule and instability===
Since 1991, Ukraine's political system had been dominated by a political system of cooperation between the centre-right [[National Democracy (Ukraine)|national democrats]] and "centrist" corporate groups in an informal coalition against the left. The national democrats, who emerged from the Ukraine's [[Soviet dissidents]],{{sfn|D'Anieri|Kravchuk|Kuzio|1999|p=20}} recognised its inability to govern Ukraine on its own and accepted the dominance of corporate groups over the state in return for maintaining policies of Ukrainianisation and the granting of important ministries to the national democrats.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=173}} The "centrist" bloc was dominated by three [[Ukrainian oligarchs|oligarchic]] "clans", which dated back to the Soviet era and were based along geographic lines: the [[Kyiv Seven|Kyiv Clan]], the [[Dnipropetrovsk Mafia|Dnipropetrovsk Clan]] and the [[Donetsk Clan]].{{sfn|Kuzio 2005a|pp=170–172}} Kuchma belonged to the Dnipropetrovsk Clan.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=198}}
Historian [[Andrew Wilson (historian)|Andrew Wilson]] argues that Kuchma's election as president "inaugurated a virtual corporate takeover of the state" from the national-democratic intellectuals and [[national communist]]s that had guided Kravchuk's presidency. According to Wilson, Kuchma "soon gained notoriety" for his widespread usage of [[patronage]]. Additional accusations of ties to organised crime dogged Kuchma, namely that his 1994 campaign had been partially financed by companies Seabeco and Nordex, which were tied to members of the [[Ukrainian mafia]] and the Russian [[Solntsevskaya Bratva]] and were involved in [[arms trafficking]] to Iran and North Korea.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|pp=194}}
Like Kravchuk before him, Kuchma's presidency had been marked by governmental instability; [[Vitaliy Masol]], an opponent of reform and a Kravchuk appointee, was originally retained as [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|prime minister]] before being removed after half a year.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=41}} [[Yevhen Marchuk]], Kuchma's first appointed [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|prime minister]], resigned ostensibly due to obtaining a mandate as a [[People's Deputy of Ukraine]] (though academic Bohdan Harasymiw says that Kuchma's uneasiness with Marchuk's popularity led to Kuchma forcing his resignation), while his successor, [[Pavlo Lazarenko]], resigned due to "ill health" amidst a large-scale corruption scandal. Lazarenko in turn was replaced by [[Valeriy Pustovoitenko]], a leader of the pro-Kuchma [[People's Democratic Party (Ukraine)|People's Democratic Party]] who was a member of the Dnipropetrovsk Clan.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|pp=137–141}}
====Lazarenko scandal====
[[File:Pavlo Lazarenko.jpg|alt=Pavlo Lazarenko.|thumb|left|[[Pavlo Lazarenko]], a competitor to Kuchma, fled Ukraine and was arrested on money laundering charges before the 1999 election]]
Pavlo Lazarenko, [[governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast]] and a member of Kuchma's Dnipropetrovsk Clan, was appointed as prime minister in late May 1996. Soon after being appointed, it became evident that Lazarenko was involved in massive [[money laundering]].{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=42}} Utilising government resources, Lazarenko transferred as much as 50% of Ukraine's [[gross domestic product]] and US$700 million to Dnipropetrovsk Clan businesses linked to him. It is unclear whether Lazarenko acted independently or was assisted by Kuchma in laundering money.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=197}} Local business leaders (namely natural gas trader [[Yulia Tymoshenko]]) were also implicated in Lazarenko's network, which was being used to fund a political movement for Lazarenko. Kuchma was pressured by Western diplomats to remove Lazarenko, and he eventually did so in July 1997.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=42}}
Concerns about the scale and publicity of Lazarenko's corruption were not the sole reason for his removal; Kuchma was also concerned about Lazarenko's political popularity.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=141}} After being removed as prime minister, Lazarenko founded the centrist [[Hromada (political party)|Hromada]] party in opposition to Kuchma. The party was successful at the 1998 election, winning 40 seats, and Kuchma and his allies began devoting their attention to destroying the party.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=187}}
The [[Prosecutor General of Ukraine]] launched an investigation into Lazarenko in January 1997. He was subpoenaed by the Prosecutor General's office in March 1998, but failed to appear. An attempt to lift his parliamentary immunity at the time did not succeed. In December 1998, Lazarenko was arrested while entering Switzerland and charged with money laundering. His bail was posted and he returned to Ukraine before again fleeing to the United States ahead of a 17 February 1999 vote that successfully lifted his parliamentary immunity. There, he was arrested on a fraudulent Argentine visa and accused of embezzling US$2 million, obtaining 2 million [[Ukrainian hryvnia|hryvnia]]s in kickbacks and laundering 4.4 million Swiss francs and US$1.1 million through foreign bank accounts. Hromada, which had nominated him for the presidency shortly before his flight from Ukraine, soon collapsed, with his erstwhile ally Tymoshenko forming the breakaway [[Batkivshchyna]] party.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|pp=196–198}}
That Lazarenko was a significant political opponent of Kuchma prior to his flight from Ukraine has led to controversy about the extent to which prosecution was motivated by political, rather than legal, grievances. Olena Nikolayenko says that "it is generally believed" that Lazarenko's presidential ambitions, as well as a struggle with Kuchma over control of the Dnipropetrovsk clan, were the main causes of his flight from Ukraine.{{sfn|Nikolayenko|2004|p=680}} Harasymiw argues that whether the prosecution of Lazarenko politically-motivated is irrelevant as a result of the intertwining of politics, business and organised crime in Ukraine.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=198}} The alliance between Lazarenko and [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]] leader [[Oleksandr Moroz]] was utilised by Kuchma to attack Moroz, subjecting him to harassment from state media and tax authorities in order to discredit him during the 1999 campaign.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=201}}
===Economic crisis and reforms===
While his mandate had been one to pursue anti-nationalist and bilingual policies, Kuchma sought to govern on a programme of [[economic liberalism]]. Kravchuk's first term had been dominated by economic liberalisation, debates over the adoption of the [[constitution of Ukraine]] and increased corruption.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|pp=193–196}} Kuchma's liberalisation efforts, led by [[Viktor Pynzenyk]] and [[Viktor Yushchenko]], culminated in a [[1996 Ukrainian monetary reform|1996 monetary reform]] and [[austerity]] policies that reduced [[deficit spending]] and [[hyperinflation]]. These reforms, which were opposed by both large enterprises (on the basis that austerity had led to reduced corporate subsidies){{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|pp=41–42}} and the leftist-dominated [[Verkhovna Rada]] (the parliament of Ukraine, which accused Kuchma of abandoning his previous leftist programme in favour of policies supported by the [[International Monetary Fund]]),{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=196}} were eventually abandoned after 1996, though Kuchma continued to insist that he supported such policies.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|pp=41–42}}{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=196}}
By 1999, most major economic problems remained unresolved, and the post-independence [[economic depression]] continued: issues of land ownership, large [[state-owned enterprise]]s, high unemployment (growing to as much as one-third of the workforce by 2002) and low wages (equivalent to US$40 per month) remained important issues for the electorate.{{sfn|Klobucar|Miller|Erb|2002|p=315}} While GDP contraction had declined from a peak of 12.2% in 1995, with comparatively minor contractions of 3% in 1997, 1.9% in 1998 and 0.2% in 1999, perceptions of the economy as poorly-performing continued to hamper Kuchma's popularity.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|pp=43–44}}
===Split in ''Rukh'', Chornovil's death===
[[File:Viacheslav Chornovil.jpg|alt=Viacheslav Chornovil.|thumb|[[Viacheslav Chornovil]], a competitor to Kuchma from the centre-right, was killed in a March 1999 traffic collision under disputed circumstances]]
The centre-right [[People's Movement of Ukraine]] ({{langx|uk|Народний Рух України|translit=Narodnyi Rukh Ukrainy|link=no|engvar=gb}}, abbreviated ''Rukh'') was a significant political force leading up to the 1999 election. The party's leader, former political prisoner [[Viacheslav Chornovil]], was "the "main threat to power" for Kuchma according to human rights activist Adrian Karatnycky.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=45}} At the {{ill|Ninth Congress of the People's Movement of Ukraine|lt=Ninth Congress of ''Rukh''|uk|IX З'їзд Народного Руху України}} in December 1998, Chornovil published the party's campaign strategy, advocating for greater focus on increasing support among the electorates of eastern and southern Ukraine. At the same congress, Chornovil declared his candidacy for the presidency,{{efn|The ''[[Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine]]'' has claimed that Chornovil refused to participate in the election,{{sfn|Kulchytskyi|2020}} but this is rejected by historian [[Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk]]{{sfn|Hai-Nyzhnyk|2012}} and Chornovil's son [[Taras Chornovil|Taras]].{{sfn|Khalupa|2004}}}} alongside [[Hennadiy Udovenko]]. The final candidate of ''Rukh'' was to be determined at a later date.{{sfn|Hai-Nyzhnyk|2012}}
''Rukh'' was increasingly split between Chornovil's supporters and those who disapproved of him, with both sides feeling that the other was too close to Kuchma's government.{{sfn|Ovsiienko|2022|p=146}} Chornovil's supporters additionally accused the anti-Chornovil faction of being supported by the oligarchs and blamed Kuchma for organising the split, while his opponents saw Chornovil as disrespectful of party rules and accused him of an authoritarian leadership style.{{sfn|Woronowycz|1999|pp=1, 3}} [[Yuriy Kostenko]], a member of ''Rukh'' who had served as [[Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (Ukraine)|Minister of Environmental Protection]] in the [[Pustovoitenko government]], removed Chornovil as leader of the [[parliamentary group]] of ''Rukh'' in a vote by the party's deputies before launching an effort to replace Chornovil as party leader. This infighting weakened the party ahead of the 1999 election.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=45}} Hai-Nyzhnyk states that Chornovil withdrew his candidacy for the presidency in January 1999,{{sfn|Hai-Nyzhnyk|2012}} while [[Taras Chornovil]] states that he was campaigning for president until his death.{{sfn|Khalupa|2004}}
On 25 March 1999, Chornovil was killed in a traffic collision near [[Boryspil International Airport]] while returning from a campaign speech in the city of Kirovohrad (now [[Kropyvnytskyi]]) when his car crashed into a lorry blocking the highway. The driver of the lorry was charged with recklessness and sentenced to prison before being amnestied.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=45}} An investigation to determine whether Chornovil had been assassinated was launched in 2005, after the end of Kuchma's presidency.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=45}} Investigations into Chornovil have since been repeatedly closed and reopened without consensus on whether or not he was assassinated.{{sfn|Harasymiw|Koshelivets|Senkus|2015}}
==Candidates==
According to Ukrainian electoral law, candidates may be nominated by a [[political party]], an alliance of parties or a group of voters. Under the law, 200 delegates of a party or alliance must affirm the nomination of a candidate, while a meeting of 500 voters was necessary to nominate an [[independent politician|independent]] candidate. Unlike previous elections, the 1999 elections required all candidates to obtain one million signatures, with 30,000 of these signatures coming from two-thirds of the twenty-six [[regions of Ukraine]].{{sfn|Harasymiw|2005|p=205}}
Fifteen candidates were initially nominated, of whom two (Kuchma and [[Yevhen Marchuk]]){{sfn|Birch|2002|p=344}} were independents.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2005|p=205}} Two of the candidates ([[Oleksandr Tkachenko (politician, born 1939)|Oleksandr Tkachenko]] and [[Volodymyr Oliinyk]]) dropped out, in line with a declaration made by the members of the {{ill|Kaniv Four|uk|Канівська четвірка}} (comprising both of them alongside Marchuk and [[Oleksandr Moroz]] of the [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]]) to drop out in favour of the leading candidate.{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=340}} Political scientist [[Sarah Birch]] lists the final 13 candidates as being placed in the following political alignments:{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=344}}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
|-
! Left-wing
! Centrist
! Right-wing
|-
| {{plainlist|
* [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[Communist Party of Ukraine|KPU]])
* [[Oleksandr Moroz]] ([[Socialist Party of Ukraine|SPU]])
* [[Nataliya Vitrenko]] ([[Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine|PSPU]])
* [[Yurii Karmazin]] ([[Motherland Defenders Party|PZV]])
* [[Oleksandr Bazylyuk]] ([[Slavic Party|SP]])
}}
| {{plainlist|
* [[Leonid Kuchma]] ([[Independent politician|Ind.]])
* [[Yevhen Marchuk]] (Ind.)
* [[Vasyl Onopenko]] ([[Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)|SDPU(o)]])
* [[Vitaliy Kononov]] ([[Party of Greens of Ukraine|PZU]])
}}
| {{plainlist|
* [[Yuriy Kostenko]] (''[[People's Movement of Ukraine|Rukh]]'', anti-Chornovil)
* [[Hennadiy Udovenko]] (''Rukh'', pro-Chornovil)
}}
|}
In addition, Birch does not note two of the final candidates ([[Oleksandr Rzhavskyy]] and {{ill|Mykola Haber|uk|Габер Микола Олександрович}}) as being aligned with the left, right or centre. She further describes Kuchma and Marchuk as "centre-right".{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=344}}
===Kuchma===
[[File:Киев. Август 1999 г. Виктор Степанович Черномырдин, Александр Сергеевич Пушкин, Леонид Данилович Кучма.jpg|alt=A photograph of Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Chernomyrdin in a forest. Kuchma is reading a book while Chernomyrdin watches.|thumb|[[Leonid Kuchma]] (right) with former Russian prime minister [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]], August 1999]]
[[Leonid Kuchma]] was born into a family of peasants{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=146}} in the northern [[Chernihiv Oblast]]. His early life was marked by [[World War II]], during which his family was displaced by the destruction of his native village, as well as the intermingling of Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian cultures.{{sfn|Bondarenko|2007|pp=5–6}} From 1960 he was involved in the Soviet Union's rocket industry, working at [[Pivdenmash]] from 1960 until his 1992 resignation, when he became [[prime minister of Ukraine|prime minister]].{{sfn|Korzh|2005|p=4}} At the time of his resignation, he was the company's general director and a member of the ''[[nomenklatura]]''. Kuchma's premiership had been marked by efforts to resolve the budget deficit and hyperinflation (at the time equivalent to 33% of Ukraine's GDP), as well as by infighting with president [[Leonid Kravchuk]]. Kuchma's efforts to resolve the economic slowdown failed, for which he blamed Kravchuk and his inner circle.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|pp=23–25}} Kuchma had won the [[1994 Ukrainian presidential election]] campaigning on recognition of Russian as a co-official language and improved relations with Russia. After his election, however, he abandoned his campaign promises{{sfn|Korzh|2005|p=4}} to pursue market reforms, which were also later watered down.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=193}}
Invigorated by the increased powers granted to the presidency with the adoption of the constitution, Kuchma announced his intention to seek re-election in September 1996.{{sfn|Bondarenko|2007|p=217}} He campaigned on the threat of a "red revanche",{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=200}} accusing Symonenko of opposing Ukrainian democracy{{sfn|Klobucar|Miller|Erb|2002|p=315}} and supporting [[Russian imperialism]], the [[Holodomor]], the [[Great Purge]] and [[Second Chechen War|Russia's military campaign in Chechnya]].{{sfn|The Economist 1999}} Kuchma, emulating [[Boris Yeltsin 1996 presidential campaign|Yeltsin's 1996 campaign]] in Russia,{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=205}} benefited from usage of administrative resources to his advantage, including by closing or suing opposition newspapers and through strong-arming banks and oligarchs into providing money for his re-election. In one instance, the Ukraïna bank, which had contributed the least to Kuchma's campaign funds up to that point, was placed under the control of the [[Security Service of Ukraine]] ({{langx|uk|Служба безпеки України|translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy|link=no|engvar=gb}}, SBU) in August–September 1998.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=198}} Kuchma's campaign staff was bolstered by the involvement of several veteran "political technologists" of Yeltsin's 1996 campaign, including {{ill|Timofey Sergeytsev|ru|Сергейцев, Тимофей Николаевич|uk|Сергейцев Тимофій Миколайович}}, {{ill|Dmitry Kulikov (political scientist)|lt=Dmitry Kulikov|ru|Куликов, Дмитрий Евгеньевич}}, Iskander Valitov{{sfn|Wilson|2026|p=374}} and [[Gleb Pavlovsky]].{{sfn|Kuzio 2005b|p=491}}
===Symonenko===
[[File:Vladimir Putin 18 March 2002-3.jpg|alt=Petro Symonenko and Vladimir Putin shaking hands.|thumb|[[Petro Symonenko]] (left) and Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2002]]
[[Petro Symonenko]] was born in 1952 in the city of [[Donetsk]]. He graduated from [[Donetsk Polytechnic Institute]] with a degree in electromechanical engineering and initially worked as a coal miner before becoming a [[Komsomol]] employee in 1975. He continued to work in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1975 to 1988, including on the [[Mariupol]] municipal committee of the CPSU and the [[Donetsk Oblast|Donetsk Regional Committee]], where he served as second secretary. From 1991 to 1993 he was general director of coal mining company {{ill|Ukrvuhlemash|uk|Укрвуглемаш}} before being elected first secretary of the reestablished [[Communist Party of Ukraine]] ({{langx|uk|Комуністична партія України|translit=Komunistychna partiia Ukrainy|link=no|engvar=gb}}, KPU) in 1993. While he had led the KPU to support Kuchma in 1994, Symonenko was frustrated with Kuchma's failure to pursue greater ties with Russia and particularly by his economic reforms.{{sfn|Korzh|2005|p=29}}
Symonenko advocated for [[Soviet patriotism]]{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=191}} and [[nostalgia for the Soviet Union|nostalgia]],{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=301}} increased welfare spending{{sfn|Klobucar|Miller|Erb|2002|p=324}} and Ukrainian membership in the [[Union State]], a supranational union comprising Belarus and Russia.{{sfn|The Economist 1999}} Symonenko's campaign faced several uphill struggles, including Symonenko's lack of charisma{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=34}} and the CPU's low support ceiling. In September 1999, [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] leader [[Gennady Zyuganov]] allegedly communicated to Symonenko a desire for him to withdraw and form a [[popular front]] led by Moroz and the SPU, believing that an outright KPU victory was impossible.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|pp=202–204}} Karatnycky likewise contends that Symonenko was "unelectable" and that his advance to the second round provided Kuchma the greatest opportunity for victory,{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}} and Birch notes that Symonenko "never really stood a chance against" Kuchma, and that the CPU's electoral ceiling was well below 50% of the electorate.{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=340}}
===Moroz===
[[File:Moroz 2003.jpg|alt=Oleksandr Moroz speaking into a microphone.|thumb|[[Oleksandr Moroz]] at a 2003 protest against Kuchma]]
[[Oleksandr Moroz]], born in 1944, was the leader of the [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]] from its establishment, and a [[People's Deputy of Ukraine|People's Deputy]] from 1990. He previously ran for president in 1994, during which time he obtained 13% of the vote. The SPU was critical of the [[one-party state]] and [[Soviet bureaucracy]], while supporting a socialist economy and society and criticising the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|pp=303–304}} Moroz accepted Ukrainian independence; he was known for his repeated usage of the adage "Anybody who does not regret the collapse of the USSR has no heart; anybody who wants to restore the Union today has no head".{{sfn|Wilson|2022|pp=191–192}}
Moroz campaigned on anti-corruption and improved social welfare,{{sfn|Klobucar|Miller|Erb|2002|p=316}} and had a public image as a morally upstanding politician.{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=34}}{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=341}} He sought to emulate [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]], the moderate leftist president of Poland. However, such efforts were stymied by a lack of centrist allies (particularly after the end of Lazarenko's political career) and the general unwillingness of most Ukrainian leftists to moderate their views. Such unwillingness had resulted in the party's left splitting and forming the [[Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine|Progressive Socialist Party]] in 1996.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=192}} In spite of these divisions, Moroz remained Kuchma's strongest rival.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=200}}{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=34}}{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}}{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=341}} Kuchma's campaign accused Moroz of financial improprieties and political violence,{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=341}} and, after Lazarenko left Ukraine, exploited the alliance between Moroz and Lazarenko to reduce the former's popularity.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=201}} In an effort to combat Kuchma, Moroz formed the Kaniv Four alliance, comprising himself and three other centrist and leftist candidates.{{efn|[[Yevhen Marchuk]], [[Oleksandr Tkachenko (politician, born 1939)|Oleksandr Tkachenko]] and [[Volodymyr Oliinyk]].}} This strategy ultimately failed, as both Marchuk and Moroz refused to step down in the other's favour.{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=341}}
===Vitrenko===
[[File:НДУ 3 Вітренко Наталія Михайлівна.jpg|alt=Refer to text.|thumb|[[Nataliya Vitrenko]] in 1998]]
[[Nataliya Vitrenko]] was leader of the [[Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine]], a far-left breakaway from the SPU comprising dissidents who opposed Moroz's cooperation with Kuchma on writing the [[constitution of Ukraine]]. Vitrenko had led the PSPU in the [[1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election]] with the slogan "We shall build a Soviet and Socialist Ukraine!".{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=310}} She was widely known by the derogatory epithet of "Konotop Witch", owing to {{ill|Ukraine's 160th electoral district|lt=her Verkhovna Rada constituency|uk|Виборчий округ 160}} and the [[The Witch of Konotop|1837 short story]] by [[Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko]].{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=200}}
Vitrenko's campaign largely focused on [[anti-Western sentiment]] and economic concerns.{{sfn|Klobucar|Miller|Erb|2002|p=316}} Among her proposals were the closure of all borders and foreign bank accounts on the first day of her presidency, the removal of all IMF advisers and the deportation of "reformers" and "the bandit class" to [[Siberia]].{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=200}} Harasymiw notes that "widely suspected" that Vitrenko's campaign had been encouraged by Kuchma's campaign staff in order to split the leftist vote.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=323}} Wilson likewise describes Vitrenko as privately being backed by the [[Office of the President of Ukraine|presidential administration]],{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=199}} while Kuzio reports that Kuchma had provided covert backing to Vitrenko since her 1996 split from the SPU and saw her as another preferable alternative to Moroz.{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}} Vitrenko was the only leftist candidate to receive significant coverage in state media during the election.{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}}{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=342}}
==Campaign==
During the campaign Kuchma was supported by the Bloc "Our Choice – Leonid Kuchma!"[[http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/zasdannya_naradi_golv_poltichnih_party_bloku_nash_vibr___leond_kuchma_19125 Session of the conference of leaders of political parties of the bloc "Our Choice - Leonid Kuchma!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914233849/http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/zasdannya_naradi_golv_poltichnih_party_bloku_nash_vibr___leond_kuchma_19125 |date=2014-09-14 }}. [[Ukrinform]]. 19 November 1999][Soskin, O. ''{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140914234706/http://uncp.soskin.info/print/news/487/lkuchma-pri-vladi---ukrayina-v-zanepadi.html L. Kuchma at power – Ukraine in decline]}}. Institute of Society Transformation.'']
===First round===
====Kaniv Four====
[[File:Комплекс Тарасова (Чернеча) гора.jpg|alt=An elevated statue of Taras Shevchenko, surrounded by greenery.|thumb|A monument to [[Taras Shevchenko]] on [[Taras Hill]] in [[Kaniv]]. The Kaniv Four gathered at Shevchenko's grave in Kaniv to announce the formation of the quadrumvirate.]]
On 24 August 1999 ([[Independence Day of Ukraine|Independence Day]]), [[Oleksandr Moroz]], former head of the SBU and prime minister [[Yevhen Marchuk]], chairman of the Verkhovna Rada [[Oleksandr Tkachenko (politician, born 1939)|Oleksandr Tkachenko]] and [[Cherkasy]] mayor [[Volodymyr Oliinyk]] gathered at the {{ill|grave of Taras Shevchenko|uk|Могила Тараса Шевченка}} in the city of [[Kaniv]] to announce an electoral alliance, informally known as the {{ill|Kaniv Four|uk|Канівська четвірка}}. The date and location were both chosen to separate the coalition from the KPU and PSPU and cast an image as patriotic leftists.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=203}} The group vowed to drop out in favour of the candidate placed the highest in opinion polling at a date shortly prior to the election as part of an informal [[primary election]].{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=341}}
While the Kaniv Four acquired significant media attention, they found themselves unable to gather the endorsement of right-wing candidates (who, according to Wilson, were largely being bankrolled by the presidential administration), though Marchuk maintained connections with dissident ''Rukh'' leader [[Yuriy Kostenko]]. Likewise, attempts to include Symonenko in the group were unsuccessful, as Symonenko generally retained consistently high polling numbers that would have made him the group's natural choice.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=203}}
Karatnycky, citing an unnamed political consultant close to Kuchma, alleges that Kuchma's campaign staff deliberately engineered frictions within the Kaniv Four by leaking fake polls to Marchuk that showed him, rather than Moroz, as the leading candidate, leading Marchuk to demand his selection as the quadrumvirate's candidate.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}} In 2000, Wilson accused Moroz of reneging on the alliance by refusing the agreement of the other three to support Marchuk, while noting that the presidential administration may have worked with any of the candidates behind the scenes to sow discord among the quadrumvirate.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=203}} He later argued that Moroz had been double-crossed by Marchuk, who he alleges received support from the presidential administration.{{sfn|Wilson|2026|p=374}} The alliance dissolved a few weeks before the first round of voting.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}} Oliinyk endorsed Marchuk,{{sfn|Chesno n.d.}} while Tkachenko abandoned the quadrumvirate to support Symonenko.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}}
====Attempted assassination of Vitrenko====
On 3 October,{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}} during a campaign rally in [[Dnipro]]petrovsk,{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=201}} an assailant threw a [[RGD-5]] grenade at Vitrenko in an apparent assassination attempt.{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}} State media blamed Serhii Ivanchenko, a local organiser of Moroz's campaign,{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=201}} leading to a decrease in Moroz's support.{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}}{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=323}}
Several sources have described the attempt as a [[false flag]],{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}}{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=201}}{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=323}}{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}} though it is disputed who organised the attack or what the intention of it was. Political scientist [[Taras Kuzio]], noting that the RGD-5 grenade thrown at Vitrenko was a stun grenade, argues that it increased her popularity.{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=36}} In a [[Cassette Scandal|later-released cassette tape]] secretly recorded by presidential bodyguard [[Mykola Melnychenko]], an individual believed to be Kuchma admits to organising the attack to discredit Moroz, and Kuzio alleges that the attack was based on advice from Russian advisers.{{sfn|Kuzio 2005b|p=497}} Shortly following the attack, two Russian individuals claimed responsibility, saying that they had been paid by Vitrenko to throw the grenade. Wilson notes this, as well as increased state media focus on Vitrenko's more eccentric positions, as causing a drop in her popularity.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=201}}
===Second round===
The first round of the election occurred on 31 October 1999. Kuchma placed first with 38% of the vote, followed by Symonenko at 23% and Moroz at 11.8%. As no candidate gained a majority, the election went to a second round.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=47}}
[[File:Fosse commune de Saadi-Kotar.jpg|alt=A Russian soldier standing on top of a mass grave in a field.|thumb|In the second round, Kuchma accused Symonenko of supporting Russian imperialism, including the [[Second Chechen War]], and threatening Ukraine's independence]]
Facing Symonenko, Kuchma urged the national democrats and those supporting economic reforms to turn out against the left, tying himself to both independence and liberalisation.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=325}} Kuchma placed particular importance on the memory of the man-made [[Holodomor]] famine,{{sfn|Nikolayenko|2004|p=666}} as well as casting the KPU as agents of both historical and contemporary [[Russian imperialism]].{{sfn|The Economist 1999}} This included tying the party to the [[Great Purge]], the 1962 [[Novocherkassk massacre]]{{sfn|Zolotariova|2021}} and the ongoing [[Second Chechen War]].{{sfn|The Economist 1999}} Kuchma's campaign extensively deployed [[black propaganda]] through leaflets purporting to represent the KPU, leading to a condemnation in the party's {{translit|uk|Komunist}} newspaper as part of an "arsenal of techniques from bourgeois countries".{{sfn|Nikolayenko|2004|p=666}} Both Kuchma and Symonenko engaged in extensive [[negative campaigning]] during the second round.{{sfn|Zolotariova|2021}}
Marchuk endorsed Kuchma on 10 November and in exchange was named as secretary of the [[National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine|National Security and Defence Council]], replacing longtime Kuchma ally [[Volodymyr Horbulin]].{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|pp=323–325}} Wilson compares Marchuk's role in the election to that of [[Alexander Lebed]] in the [[1996 Russian presidential election]], noting that Lebed had similarly been appointed to a government position with the expectation that his voters support the incumbent in the second round.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=203}} Kostenko and [[Hennadiy Udovenko]], the two rival leaders of ''Rukh'', also endorsed Kuchma, as did minor candidates [[Oleksandr Rzhavskyy]] and [[Vitaliy Kononov]].{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=325}}
In early November, Symonenko received the joint endorsement of Moroz, Tkachenko, Oliinyk, Karmazin and Haber. In return, Symonenko issued a pledge to respect Ukrainian independence and private enterprise as president.{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=341}} In the statement, which Wilson describes as "surpris[ing] virtually everybody", Symonenko compared himself to Polish president [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]] and expressed support for a coalition of multiple parties in support of his presidency, as well as renunciation of the powers of the presidency and membership in the [[Union State]].{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=203}} Though the appeal was widely shared in KPU press, it failed to make an impact due to how late in the election it had been published, that few saw the statement and, as Birch argues, that those who saw it were unlikely to have been convinced.{{sfn|Birch|2002|pp=341–342}}
==Election==
As in [[1994 Ukrainian presidential election|the previous election]], the 1999 election was marked by a shift in the electorate of [[western Ukraine]] towards the incumbent, in a reversal of the region previously voting against Kuchma. By contrast, Symonenko failed to win an absolute majority in any of Ukraine's regions in the first round,{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=326}} reaching a peak of 47% in the eastern [[Luhansk Oblast]].{{sfn|Zolotariova|2021}} Moroz won in two regions ([[Vinnytsia Oblast|Vinnytsia]] and [[Poltava Oblast|Poltava]] oblasts), while Vitrenko won in her native [[Sumy Oblast]].{{sfn|Zolotariova|2021}} Harasymiw argues that the 1999 election proved the non-existence of a west-east schism in Ukrainian presidential elections, arguing instead that western Ukraine was the only one of Ukraine's four regions to give decisive majorities to any singular candidate.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=326}} Political scientist Kimitaka Matsuzato argues that the previous election's dominance of the left in eastern Ukraine had shifted to a central Ukrainian "Red Belt", while [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Dnipropetrovsk]], [[Donetsk Oblast|Donetsk]] and [[Odesa Oblast|Odesa]] oblasts shifted towards the anti-Kuchma "western camp".{{sfn|Matsuzato|2001|p=417}}
In the second round, Kuchma's voters primarily comprised younger individuals, those who described themselves as "strong believers" in religion and residents of western Ukraine (86% of whom turned out for Kuchma). By contrast, Symonenko's supporters were generally elderly and from [[eastern Ukraine]]. All demographic groups polled by the [[Central Election Commission (Ukraine)|Central Election Commission]] (religious adherence, age and region of residence) voted for Kuchma. Among first-round voters, 35% of Moroz's voters turned out for Kuchma, while 49% voted for Symonenko (16% voted against both); Vitrenko's supporters were split more evenly, with 45% voting for Kuchma and 48% voting for Symonenko. An additional two percent of Vitrenko voters claimed to the Central Election Commission to have voted for a third candidate in the second round. 63% of Marchuk voters in the first round voted for Kuchma in the second, compared to 22% for Symonenko. The remaining candidates' supporters almost exclusively transferred their votes to Kuchma in the second round.{{sfn|Klobucar|Miller|Erb|2002|pp=317–319}} Kuchma also benefited from the unpopularity of communism in Ukraine; Wilson notes that over 40% of voters chose Kuchma as the lesser evil compared to Symonenko.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=204}} Symonenko's largest support bases, according to Harasymiw, were social conservatives, leftists and supporters of [[Pan-Slavism]], while Kuchma's voters were a heterogenous grouping largely united by support for economic liberalisation.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=327}}
===Conduct===
The campaign was condemned by the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] as "a disgrace", with Kuchma's abuse of administrative and state resources (particularly state media) to benefit his reelection and prevent other candidates from organising being noted by both the PACE and the [[Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe]].{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=342}} Independent television channel [[STB (TV channel)|STB]] was subjected to government harassment, and opposition candidates' appearances on television were followed by comedy shows mocking them.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=198}} Birch describes the state media treatment of Kuchma's opponents as a [[media blackout]].{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=342}} The [[State Tax Service of Ukraine|State Tax Service]] and police also engaged in harassment of independent press.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=323}}
While Kuchma claimed campaign funds of only 1.7 million [[Ukrainian hryvnia|hryvnia]]s (equivalent to US$372,000), Wilson alleges that he in fact had access to over US$1.5 billion as a result of money controlled by ally [[Oleksandr Volkov (politician)|Oleksandr Volkov]] through a body known as the "Social Protection Fund". Contributors to the Social Protection Fund included Russian oligarch [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Boris Berezovsky]], mobile operator [[Kyivstar]] (headed by Kuchma's daughter [[Olena Pinchuk|Olena]]) and son-in-law [[Viktor Pinchuk]]. Kuchma, through his daughter's former marriage, was also connected to the Franchuk patronage network in Crimea, which itself was tied to the {{ill|Salem (organised crime group)|lt=Salem|uk|ОЗУ Сейлем|ru|Сэйлем (организованная преступная группировка)}} crime group, and both Volkov and Pinchuk were accused by the Verkhovna Rada of involvement in money laundering in September 1999 (the latter through the U.S.-based [[Bank of Boston]] and the [[Bank of New York]], the former through Spanish bank accounts).{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=202}} Kuchma's campaign was additionally accused by opposition deputies of paying people to vote for Kuchma with the usage of state funds, a measure condemned by government newspapers ''[[Holos Ukrayiny]]'' and ''[[Uryadovy Kuryer]]''.{{sfn|Nikolayenko|2004|p=680}}
Kuchma also attempted to utilise regional bureaucracies in order to influence turnout in his favour. Three oblast governors{{efn|{{ill|Dmytro Dvorkis|uk|Дворкіс Дмитро Володимирович}} of [[Vinnytsia Oblast]], {{ill|Oleksandr Kolesnikov|uk|Колесніков Олександр Олександрович}} of [[Poltava Oblast]] and [[Valeriy Kalchenko]] of [[Kirovohrad Oblast]].{{sfn|Matsuzato|2001|p=426}}}} were fired after the first round, according to Birch as a result of insufficient voter turnout for Kuchma,{{sfn|Birch|2002|pp=342–343}} though this did not significantly impact the results of the election.{{sfn|Matsuzato|2001|p=427}} In Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Odesa oblasts, the oblast administrations utilised government resources to encourage voters to turn out in Kuchma's favour. The practice was criticised by the OSCE, who noted that state employees (particularly healthcare workers and teachers) were coerced into voting for Kuchma, as well as by supporters of Kuchma, such as [[George Soros]].{{sfn|Matsuzato|2001|pp=416–417}}
==Results==
{{Election results
|cand1=[[Leonid Kuchma]]|party1=Independent|votes1=9598672|votes1_2=15870722
|cand2=[[Petro Symonenko]]|party2=[[Communist Party of Ukraine]]|votes2=5849077|votes2_2=10665420
|cand3=[[Oleksandr Moroz]]|party3=[[Socialist Party of Ukraine]]|votes3=2969896
|cand4=[[Nataliya Vitrenko]]|party4=[[Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine]]|votes4=2886972
|cand5=[[Yevhen Marchuk]]|party5=Independent|votes5=2138356
|cand6=[[Yuriy Kostenko]]|party6=Independent |votes6=570623
|cand7=[[Hennadiy Udovenko]]|party7=''[[People's Movement of Ukraine|Rukh]]''–[[Reforms and Order Party|Reforms and Order]]|votes7=319778
|cand8=[[Vasyl Onopenko]]|party8=[[Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)]]|votes8=124040
|cand9=[[Oleksandr Rzhavskyy]]|party9=One Family[{{Cite web |url=http://www.edina-rodina.org/ |title=Official website of the One Family |access-date=2014-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219204100/http://www.edina-rodina.org/ |archive-date=2014-12-19 |url-status=dead }}]|votes9=96515
|cand10=[[Yuriy Karmazin]]|party10=[[Motherland Defenders Party]]|votes10=90793
|cand11=[[Vitaliy Kononov]]|party11=[[Party of Greens of Ukraine]]|votes11=76832
|cand12={{ill|Oleksandr Bazyliuk|uk|Базилюк Олександр Філімонович}}|party12=[[Slavic Party (Ukraine)|Slavic Party]]|votes12=36012
|cand13={{ill|Mykola Haber|uk|Габер Микола Олександрович}}|party13=Patriotic Party of Ukraine|votes13=31829
|row14=Against all|votes14=477019|votes14_2=970181
|invalid=1038749|invalid2=706161
|electorate=37498630|electorate2=37680581
|source=Nohlen & Stöver
}}
{{Bar box
| title = First round results
| bars =
{{Bar percent|Kuchma|{{party colour|Independent politician}}|37.99}}
{{Bar percent|Symonenko|{{party colour|Communist Party of Ukraine}}|23.15}}
{{Bar percent|Moroz|{{party colour|Socialist Party of Ukraine}}|11.75}}
{{Bar percent|Vitrenko|{{party colour|Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine}}|11.43}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party colour|Independent politician}}|9.84}}
{{Bar percent|Against all/invalid|{{party colour|Independent politician}}|5.84}}
}}
{{Bar box
| title = Second round results
| bars =
{{Bar percent|Kuchma|{{party colour|Independent politician}}|57.70}}
{{Bar percent|Symonenko|{{party colour|Communist Party of Ukraine}}|38.77}}
{{Bar percent|Against all/invalid|{{party colour|Independent politician}}|6.03}}
}}
===Results by region===
{|class="wikitable"
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
|Regions won by [[Leonid Kuchma]]
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
|Regions won by [[Petro Symonenko]]
|-style="background:#C46262"
|Regions won by [[Oleksandr Moroz]]
|-style="background:#FF7F92"
|Regions won by [[Nataliya Vitrenko]]
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|+ Election results by [[administrative divisions of Ukraine|region]], percentages (first round){{sfn|Riabets|Stavniichuk|Mandrusova|Alsufiev|2000|p=294}}
|-
! |
! align="center" colspan="2" | Leonid Kuchma
! align="center" colspan="2" | Petro Symonenko
! align="center" colspan="2" | Oleksandr Moroz
! align="center" colspan="2" | Nataliya Vitrenko
! align="center" colspan="2" | Yevhen Marchuk
|-
! align="center" | Region
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea|Crimea]]
| style="text-align:right" | 308,501
| style="text-align:right" | 34.35
| style="text-align:right" | 338,053
| style="text-align:right" | 37.64
| style="text-align:right" | 21,218
| style="text-align:right" | 2.36
| style="text-align:right" | 81,665
| style="text-align:right" | 9.09
| style="text-align:right" | 56,893
| style="text-align:right" | 6.34
|-style="background:#C46262"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Vinnytsia Oblast|Vinnytsia]]
| style="text-align:right" | 181,635
| style="text-align:right" | 17.11
| style="text-align:right" | 204,393
| style="text-align:right" | 19.25
| style="text-align:right" | 359,306
| style="text-align:right" | 33.84
| style="text-align:right" | 98,718
| style="text-align:right" | 9.30
| style="text-align:right" | 99,867
| style="text-align:right" | 9.41
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Volyn Oblast|Volyn]]
| style="text-align:right" | 313,193
| style="text-align:right" | 51.49
| style="text-align:right" | 31,683
| style="text-align:right" | 5.21
| style="text-align:right" | 25,519
| style="text-align:right" | 4.20
| style="text-align:right" | 69,340
| style="text-align:right" | 11.40
| style="text-align:right" | 86,516
| style="text-align:right" | 14.22
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Dnipropetrovsk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 756,152
| style="text-align:right" | 39.12
| style="text-align:right" | 558,848
| style="text-align:right" | 28.91
| style="text-align:right" | 193,875
| style="text-align:right" | 10.03
| style="text-align:right" | 189,849
| style="text-align:right" | 9.82
| style="text-align:right" | 41,016
| style="text-align:right" | 2.12
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Donetsk Oblast|Donetsk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 778,104
| style="text-align:right" | 31.96
| style="text-align:right" | 959,183
| style="text-align:right" | 39.40
| style="text-align:right" | 153,406
| style="text-align:right" | 6.30
| style="text-align:right" | 280,172
| style="text-align:right" | 11.51
| style="text-align:right" | 48,881
| style="text-align:right" | 2.01
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Zhytomyr Oblast|Zhytomyr]]
| style="text-align:right" | 254,751
| style="text-align:right" | 30.91
| style="text-align:right" | 179,985
| style="text-align:right" | 21.85
| style="text-align:right" | 158,442
| style="text-align:right" | 19.24
| style="text-align:right" | 87,192
| style="text-align:right" | 10.59
| style="text-align:right" | 35,288
| style="text-align:right" | 4.28
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Zakarpattia Oblast|Zakarpattia]]
| style="text-align:right" | 299,696
| style="text-align:right" | 54.73
| style="text-align:right" | 18,327
| style="text-align:right" | 3.35
| style="text-align:right" | 45,599
| style="text-align:right" | 8.31
| style="text-align:right" | 25,121
| style="text-align:right" | 4.59
| style="text-align:right" | 91,279
| style="text-align:right" | 16.67
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Zaporizhzhia Oblast|Zaporizhzhia]]
| style="text-align:right" | 317,305
| style="text-align:right" | 30.74
| style="text-align:right" | 317,783
| style="text-align:right" | 30.79
| style="text-align:right" | 96,317
| style="text-align:right" | 9.33
| style="text-align:right" | 156,035
| style="text-align:right" | 15.12
| style="text-align:right" | 47,167
| style="text-align:right" | 4.57
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 570,541
| style="text-align:right" | 70.38
| style="text-align:right" | 12,056
| style="text-align:right" | 1.49
| style="text-align:right" | 22,182
| style="text-align:right" | 2.74
| style="text-align:right" | 28,304
| style="text-align:right" | 3.49
| style="text-align:right" | 86,343
| style="text-align:right" | 10.65
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kyiv Oblast|Kyiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 378,767
| style="text-align:right" | 36.49
| style="text-align:right" | 94,712
| style="text-align:right" | 9.13
| style="text-align:right" | 221,115
| style="text-align:right" | 21.30
| style="text-align:right" | 146,258
| style="text-align:right" | 14.09
| style="text-align:right" | 79,066
| style="text-align:right" | 7.76
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kirovohrad Oblast|Kirovohrad]]
| style="text-align:right" | 149,667
| style="text-align:right" | 22.97
| style="text-align:right" | 637,490
| style="text-align:right" | 47.15
| style="text-align:right" | 134,390
| style="text-align:right" | 20.62
| style="text-align:right" | 77,750
| style="text-align:right" | 11.93
| style="text-align:right" | 50,558
| style="text-align:right" | 7.76
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Luhansk Oblast|Luhansk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 386,557
| style="text-align:right" | 28.59
| style="text-align:right" | 637,490
| style="text-align:right" | 47.15
| style="text-align:right" | 78,422
| style="text-align:right" | 5.80
| style="text-align:right" | 113,167
| style="text-align:right" | 8.37
| style="text-align:right" | 25,994
| style="text-align:right" | 1.92
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 1,012,067
| style="text-align:right" | 64.06
| style="text-align:right" | 37,869
| style="text-align:right" | 2.40
| style="text-align:right" | 42,511
| style="text-align:right" | 2.69
| style="text-align:right" | 40,876
| style="text-align:right" | 2.59
| style="text-align:right" | 291,719
| style="text-align:right" | 18.46
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Mykolaiv Oblast|Mykolaiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 217,774
| style="text-align:right" | 33.65
| style="text-align:right" | 202,616
| style="text-align:right" | 31.31
| style="text-align:right" | 51,055
| style="text-align:right" | 7.89
| style="text-align:right" | 82,469
| style="text-align:right" | 12.74
| style="text-align:right" | 33,576
| style="text-align:right" | 5.19
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Odesa Oblast|Odesa]]
| style="text-align:right" | 395,973
| style="text-align:right" | 36.93
| style="text-align:right" | 265,834
| style="text-align:right" | 24.79
| style="text-align:right" | 898,75
| style="text-align:right" | 8.38
| style="text-align:right" | 121,518
| style="text-align:right" | 11.33
| style="text-align:right" | 67,515
| style="text-align:right" | 6.30
|-style="background:#C46262"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Poltava Oblast|Poltava]]
| style="text-align:right" | 197,487
| style="text-align:right" | 19.57
| style="text-align:right" | 219,703
| style="text-align:right" | 21.77
| style="text-align:right" | 264,063
| style="text-align:right" | 26.17
| style="text-align:right" | 142,578
| style="text-align:right" | 14.13
| style="text-align:right" | 54,058
| style="text-align:right" | 5.36
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Rivne Oblast|Rivne]]
| style="text-align:right" | 299,201
| style="text-align:right" | 45.77
| style="text-align:right" | 32,013
| style="text-align:right" | 4.90
| style="text-align:right" | 49,968
| style="text-align:right" | 7.64
| style="text-align:right" | 53,733
| style="text-align:right" | 8.22
| style="text-align:right" | 80,107
| style="text-align:right" | 12.26
|-style="background:#FF7F92"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Sumy Oblast|Sumy]]
| style="text-align:right" | 219,468
| style="text-align:right" | 26.68
| style="text-align:right" | 157,459
| style="text-align:right" | 19.14
| style="text-align:right" | 89,888
| style="text-align:right" | 10.93
| style="text-align:right" | 243,498
| style="text-align:right" | 29.60
| style="text-align:right" | 37,721
| style="text-align:right" | 4.58
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Ternopil Oblast|Ternopil]]
| style="text-align:right" | 496,384
| style="text-align:right" | 69.38
| style="text-align:right" | 9,880
| style="text-align:right" | 1.38
| style="text-align:right" | 14,867
| style="text-align:right" | 2.08
| style="text-align:right" | 20,435
| style="text-align:right" | 2.86
| style="text-align:right" | 104,201
| style="text-align:right" | 14.56
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kharkiv Oblast|Kharkiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 438,123
| style="text-align:right" | 28.07
| style="text-align:right" | 512,994
| style="text-align:right" | 32.87
| style="text-align:right" | 124,580
| style="text-align:right" | 7.98
| style="text-align:right" | 161,503
| style="text-align:right" | 10.35
| style="text-align:right" | 172,051
| style="text-align:right" | 11.02
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kherson Oblast|Kherson]]
| style="text-align:right" | 187,356
| style="text-align:right" | 30.15
| style="text-align:right" | 218,125
| style="text-align:right" | 35.11
| style="text-align:right" | 71,496
| style="text-align:right" | 11.51
| style="text-align:right" | 62,540
| style="text-align:right" | 10.07
| style="text-align:right" | 14,167
| style="text-align:right" | 2.28
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Khmelnytskyi Oblast|Khmelnytskyi]]
| style="text-align:right" | 266,963
| style="text-align:right" | 30.25
| style="text-align:right" | 127,439
| style="text-align:right" | 14.44
| style="text-align:right" | 133,093
| style="text-align:right" | 15.08
| style="text-align:right" | 128,971
| style="text-align:right" | 14.61
| style="text-align:right" | 124,463
| style="text-align:right" | 14.10
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Cherkasy Oblast|Cherkasy]]
| style="text-align:right" | 174,615
| style="text-align:right" | 20.64
| style="text-align:right" | 161,135
| style="text-align:right" | 19.04
| style="text-align:right" | 172,128
| style="text-align:right" | 20.34
| style="text-align:right" | 123,813
| style="text-align:right" | 14.63
| style="text-align:right" | 121,482
| style="text-align:right" | 14.36
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Chernivtsi Oblast|Chernivtsi]]
| style="text-align:right" | 238,628
| style="text-align:right" | 51.00
| style="text-align:right" | 38,471
| style="text-align:right" | 8.22
| style="text-align:right" | 31,574
| style="text-align:right" | 6.75
| style="text-align:right" | 54,659
| style="text-align:right" | 11.68
| style="text-align:right" | 51,764
| style="text-align:right" | 11.06
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Chernihiv Oblast|Chernihiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 202,640
| style="text-align:right" | 25.57
| style="text-align:right" | 179,224
| style="text-align:right" | 22.61
| style="text-align:right" | 127,551
| style="text-align:right" | 16.09
| style="text-align:right" | 128,217
| style="text-align:right" | 16.18
| style="text-align:right" | 72,257
| style="text-align:right" | 9.12
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kyiv|Kyiv city]]
| style="text-align:right" | 486,887
| style="text-align:right" | 38.86
| style="text-align:right" | 93,278
| style="text-align:right" | 7.45
| style="text-align:right" | 191,411
| style="text-align:right" | 15.28
| style="text-align:right" | 144,912
| style="text-align:right" | 11.57
| style="text-align:right" | 152,078
| style="text-align:right" | 12.14
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Sevastopol]]
| style="text-align:right" | 57,037
| style="text-align:right" | 34.51
| style="text-align:right" | 56,691
| style="text-align:right" | 34.40
| style="text-align:right" | 4,748
| style="text-align:right" | 2.87
| style="text-align:right" | 21,409
| style="text-align:right" | 12.95
| style="text-align:right" | 8,955
| style="text-align:right" | 5.42
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Foreign electoral district of Ukraine|Foreign electoral district]]
| style="text-align:right" | 13,200
| style="text-align:right" | 53.64
| style="text-align:right" | 1,169
| style="text-align:right" | 4.75
| style="text-align:right" | 1,397
| style="text-align:right" | 5.68
| style="text-align:right" | 2,270
| style="text-align:right" | 9.22
| style="text-align:right" | 3,374
| style="text-align:right" | 13.71
|-
! TOTALS:
! 9,598,672
! 37.99
! 5,849,077
! 23.15
! 2,969,896
! 11.75
! 2,886,972
! 11.43
! 2,138,356
! 8.46
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|+ Election results by region, percentages (second round){{sfn|Riabets|Stavniichuk|Mandrusova|Alsufiev|2000|p=298}}{{efn|Invalid and [[against all]] votes not included.}}
|-
! |
! align="center" colspan="2" | Leonid Kuchma
! align="center" colspan="2" | Petro Symonenko
|-
! align="center" | Region
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
! align=center data-sort-type="number" | #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" | %
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea|Crimea]]
| style="text-align:right" | 434,738
| style="text-align:right" | 43.98
| style="text-align:right" | 506,302
| style="text-align:right" | 51.22
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Vinnytsia Oblast|Vinnytsia]]
| style="text-align:right" | 359,833
| style="text-align:right" | 33.90
| style="text-align:right" | 628,399
| style="text-align:right" | 59.20
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Volyn Oblast|Volyn]]
| style="text-align:right" | 479,344
| style="text-align:right" | 75.44
| style="text-align:right" | 121,922
| style="text-align:right" | 19.19
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Dnipropetrovsk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 1,181,358
| style="text-align:right" | 56.35
| style="text-align:right" | 798,380
| style="text-align:right" | 38.08
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Donetsk Oblast|Donetsk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 1,557,340
| style="text-align:right" | 52.90
| style="text-align:right" | 1,213,694
| style="text-align:right" | 41.23
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Zhytomyr Oblast|Zhytomyr]]
| style="text-align:right" | 394,896
| style="text-align:right" | 48.06
| style="text-align:right" | 377,119
| style="text-align:right" | 45.89
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Zakarpattia Oblast|Zakarpattia]]
| style="text-align:right" | 657,314
| style="text-align:right" | 84.53
| style="text-align:right" | 75,148
| style="text-align:right" | 9.66
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Zaporizhzhia Oblast|Zaporizhzhia]]
| style="text-align:right" | 473,731
| style="text-align:right" | 44.83
| style="text-align:right" | 525,042
| style="text-align:right" | 49.69
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 859,839
| style="text-align:right" | 92.30
| style="text-align:right" | 41,769
| style="text-align:right" | 4.48
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kyiv Oblast|Kyiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 617,704
| style="text-align:right" | 58.51
| style="text-align:right" | 362,530
| style="text-align:right" | 34.34
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kirovohrad Oblast|Kirovohrad]]
| style="text-align:right" | 278,644
| style="text-align:right" | 40.92
| style="text-align:right" | 358,010
| style="text-align:right" | 52.58
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Luhansk Oblast|Luhansk]]
| style="text-align:right" | 598,522
| style="text-align:right" | 40.74
| style="text-align:right" | 791,408
| style="text-align:right" | 53.87
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 1,623,941
| style="text-align:right" | 91.59
| style="text-align:right" | 91,307
| style="text-align:right" | 5.15
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Mykolaiv Oblast|Mykolaiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 300,881
| style="text-align:right" | 45.90
| style="text-align:right" | 322,225
| style="text-align:right" | 49.16
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Odesa Oblast|Odesa]]
| style="text-align:right" | 620,075
| style="text-align:right" | 52.83
| style="text-align:right" | 476,847
| style="text-align:right" | 40.63
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Poltava Oblast|Poltava]]
| style="text-align:right" | 355,382
| style="text-align:right" | 35.20
| style="text-align:right" | 582,249
| style="text-align:right" | 57.66
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Rivne Oblast|Rivne]]
| style="text-align:right" | 541,209
| style="text-align:right" | 76.52
| style="text-align:right" | 121,894
| style="text-align:right" | 17.23
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Sumy Oblast|Sumy]]
| style="text-align:right" | 409,352
| style="text-align:right" | 48.53
| style="text-align:right" | 365,737
| style="text-align:right" | 43.36
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Ternopil Oblast|Ternopil]]
| style="text-align:right" | 727,359
| style="text-align:right" | 92.17
| style="text-align:right" | 38,167
| style="text-align:right" | 4.84
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kharkiv Oblast|Kharkiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 772,210
| style="text-align:right" | 46.64
| style="text-align:right" | 769,221
| style="text-align:right" | 46.46
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kherson Oblast|Kherson]]
| style="text-align:right" | 267,271
| style="text-align:right" | 41.89
| style="text-align:right" | 337,438
| style="text-align:right" | 52.28
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Khmelnytskyi Oblast|Khmelnytskyi]]
| style="text-align:right" | 446,681
| style="text-align:right" | 50.95
| style="text-align:right" | 367,950
| style="text-align:right" | 41.97
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Cherkasy Oblast|Cherkasy]]
| style="text-align:right" | 334,245
| style="text-align:right" | 39.95
| style="text-align:right" | 437,389
| style="text-align:right" | 52.28
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Chernivtsi Oblast|Chernivtsi]]
| style="text-align:right" | 375,996
| style="text-align:right" | 73.21
| style="text-align:right" | 110,069
| style="text-align:right" | 21.43
|-style="background:#CE7B7B"
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Chernihiv Oblast|Chernihiv]]
| style="text-align:right" | 293,358
| style="text-align:right" | 37.47
| style="text-align:right" | 440,505
| style="text-align:right" | 56.27
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Kyiv|Kyiv city]]
| style="text-align:right" | 790,392
| style="text-align:right" | 64.84
| style="text-align:right" | 317,567
| style="text-align:right" | 26.05
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Sevastopol]]
| style="text-align:right" | 94,710
| style="text-align:right" | 50.17
| style="text-align:right" | 82,479
| style="text-align:right" | 43.69
|-{{Party shading/Independent}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Foreign electoral district of Ukraine|Foreign electoral district]]
| style="text-align:right" | 24,397
| style="text-align:right" | 79.73
| style="text-align:right" | 4,653
| style="text-align:right" | 15.21
|-
! TOTALS:
! 15,870,722
! 57.70
! 10,665,420
! 38.77
|}
==Aftermath==
[[File:Viktor Yushchenko May 2000.jpg|alt=A photograph of Viktor Yushchenko.|thumb|[[Viktor Yushchenko]] was appointed [[prime minister of Ukraine]] after Kuchma's re-election, and pursued a programme of economic liberalisation]]
Harasymiw notes the 1999 election as bringing "Mexicanisation" to Ukrainian politics, with an increase in corruption, corporate dominance, clienteleism and [[strongman]] rule.{{sfn|Harasymiw|2002|p=330}} In order to lift the Verkhovna Rada's block on reforms, Kuchma sought to increase presidential powers in a [[2000 Ukrainian constitutional referendum|2000 constitutional referendum]].{{sfn|Wilson|2022|p=204}}
After his re-election, Kuchma described his second presidential term as "Kuchma-2" and claimed that he would place increased attention on economic reform. After initially considering the re-appointment of [[Valeriy Pustovoitenko]] as prime minister, he appointed former [[National Bank of Ukraine]] head [[Viktor Yushchenko]] to the premiership in December 1999. Yushchenko, along with deputy prime minister for energy [[Yulia Tymoshenko]], pursued economic liberalisation, payment of pensions and wages which had previously been unpaid, and increased transparency in privatisations.{{sfn|Wilson|2022|pp=204–205}} Yushchenko's premiership was opposed by Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] and pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians (who saw his marriage to [[Kateryna Yushchenko|an American woman]] and his support for a Ukrainian national identity as problematic), as well as the oligarchs (who were targeted by Yushchenko and Tymoshenko's efforts to attack economic elites). Conversely, Ukraine's Western partners (particularly the United States, where vice president [[Al Gore]] had advised Kuchma to appoint Yushchenko as prime minister) supported Yushchenko's economic reforms, and his ties to international financial institutions and [[Atlanticist]], [[pro-European]] positions were assets that led to improved relations with the West.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=48–49}}
Following the 1999 election, the KPU's popularity declined steeply, with Soviet nostalgia fading as a political force and political elites feeling increasingly connected to a Ukrainian national identity.{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=82}} The left came under increasing attack, with Tkachenko being stripped of his security detail and access to transport and telephones provided to People's Deputies, with a resumption of the investigation into the 1994 disappearance of US$70 million that had been dropped following Tkachenko's appointment as chairman of the Verkhovna Rada in 1998. Also stripped of his official privileges was [[Adam Martyniuk]], the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and a member of the KPU. Both were removed from their parliamentary leadership positions, with Tkachenko being replaced by [[Ivan Plyushch]] of the pro-Kuchma [[People's Democratic Party (Ukraine)|People's Democratic Party]].{{sfn|Kuzio|2007|p=38}}
In the autumn of 2000, a series of cassette tapes were released by presidential bodyguard [[Mykola Melnychenko]].{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=345}} The tapes, alleged to be of Kuchma, include discussion of [[voter intimidation]] in order to ensure Kuchma's victory{{sfn|Birch|2002|p=345}} and implicated him in the September 2000 murder of investigative journalist [[Georgiy Gongadze]]. The tapes were played by Moroz before the Verkhovna Rada on 28 November 2000, sparking a [[Cassette Scandal|political scandal and crisis]] and [[Ukraine Without Kuchma|popular protests]].{{sfn|Karatnycky|2024|p=51–52}}
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
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* {{Cite journal |last=Nikolayenko |first=Olena |date=July 2004 |title=Press Freedom during the 1994 and 1999 Presidential Elections in Ukraine: A Reverse Wave? |journal=[[Europe-Asia Studies]] |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=661–686 |doi=10.1080/0966813041000235092 |issn=0966-8136 |eissn=1465-3427 |jstor=4147477}}
* {{Cite web |last=Kulchytskyi |first=S. V. |date=2020 |editor-last=Dziuba |editor-first=I. M. |editor-link=Ivan Dziuba |editor2-last=Zhukovskyi |editor2-first=A. I. |editor3-last=Zhelezniak |editor3-first=M. H. |script-title=uk:Народний рух України |trans-title=People's Movement of Ukraine |url=https://esu.com.ua/article-71180 |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=[[Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine]] |volume=22 |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine]], [[Shevchenko Scientific Society]] |language=uk |publication-place=Kyiv |doi=10.5281/zenodo.19786131 |isbn=978-966-02-2074-4 |archive-date=29 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529152039/https://esu.com.ua/article-71180 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hai-Nyzhnyk |first=Pavlo |author-link=Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk |script-title=uk:Українська багатопартійність: політичні партії, виборчі блоки, лідери (кінець 1980-х – початок 2012 рр.). Енциклопедичний довідник |publisher=I. F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnonational Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |year=2012 |location=Kyiv |pages=274–280 |language=uk |trans-title=Ukrainian Multi-Partisanship: Political Parties, Electoral Blocs, Leaders (Late 1980s–Early 2012): an Encyclopedic Overview |script-chapter=uk:Народний Рух України |trans-chapter=People's Movement of Ukraine |chapter-url=https://hai-nyzhnyk.in.ua/doc/2012doc..n2.php}}
* {{Cite news |last=Khalupa |first=Iryna |date=24 March 2004 |script-title=uk:В'ячеслав Чорновіл як символ політичного лідера: до п'ятої річниці загибелі |trans-title=Viacheslav Chornovil as the symbol of a political leader: the fifth anniversary of his death |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/914027.html |access-date=23 April 2025 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=uk}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ovsiienko |first=Stanislav |date=2022 |script-title=uk:«Розкол» Народного Руху України в 1999 році: ретроспективний аналіз |trans-title=The "split" of the People's Movement of Ukraine in 1999: a retrospective analysis |url=https://dspace.onu.edu.ua/server/api/core/bitstreams/69428480-e899-46ba-a907-f0b1207499d3/content |journal=Dialog: Mediastudios |language=uk |issue=28 |pages=143–159 |doi=10.18524/2308-3255.2022.28.268495 |via=Odesa University Electronic Archive Repository |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite news |last=Woronowycz |first=Roman |date=14 March 1999 |title=Chornovil reaffirmed as leader at special Rukh congress |work=[[The Ukrainian Weekly]] |pages=1, 3 |volume=LXVII |issue=11 }}
* {{Cite web |last1=Harasymiw |first1=Bohdan |last2=Koshelivets |first2=Ivan |last3=Senkus |first3=Roman |date=2015 |title=Chornovil, Viacheslav |url=https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CC%5CH%5CChornovilViacheslav.htm |access-date=14 May 2024 |website=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]] |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510112338/https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CC%5CH%5CChornovilViacheslav.htm |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Harasymiw |first=Bohdan |date=September–December 2005 |title=Elections in Post-Communist Ukraine, 1994–2004: An Overview |journal=[[Canadian Slavonic Papers]] |volume=47 |issue=3/4 |pages=191–239 |doi=10.1080/00085006.2005.11092386 |issn=0008-5006 |eissn=2375-2475 |jstor=40871016}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Birch |first=Sarah |author-link=Sarah Birch |date=June 2002 |title=The presidential election in Ukraine, October 1999 |journal=[[Electoral Studies]] |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=339–345 |doi=10.1016/s0261-3794(01)00031-2 |issn=0261-3794 |eissn=1873-6890}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bondarenko |first=Kost |publisher=Folio |year=2007 |isbn=978-966-03-3934-7 |location=Kharkiv |pages=636 |language=ru |script-title=ru:Леонид Кучма. Портрет на фоне эпохи |trans-title=Leonid Kuchma: A Portrait on the Background of an Epoch}}
* {{Cite book |last=Korzh |first=Gennady |publisher=Folio |year=2005 |isbn=966-03-3037-5 |location=Kharkiv |pages=268 |language=ru |script-title=ru:Леонид Кучма. Настоящая биография второго Президента Украины |trans-title=Leonid Kuchma: An Accurate Biography of the Second President of Ukraine}}
* {{Cite news |date=18 November 1999 |title=Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's dismal choice |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/1999/11/18/leonid-kuchma-ukraines-dismal-choice |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250815190125/https://www.economist.com/europe/1999/11/18/leonid-kuchma-ukraines-dismal-choice |archive-date=15 August 2025 |access-date=6 July 2026 |work=[[The Economist]] |ref={{sfnRef|The Economist 1999}}}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Kuzio |first=Taras |date=March 2007 |title=Oligarchs, Tapes and Oranges: 'Kuchmagate' to the Orange Revolution |journal=[[East European Politics|Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics]] |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=30–56 |doi=10.1080/13523270701194839 |issn=1352-3279 |eissn=1743-9116|doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |date=2026 |title=Political technology in Ukraine |journal=East European Politics |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=367–388 |doi=10.1080/21599165.2026.2632338 |issn=2159-9165 |eissn=2159-9173 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Kuzio |first=Taras |date=October 2005 |title=Russian Policy toward Ukraine during Elections |journal=[[Demokratizatsiya (journal)|Demokratizatsiya]] |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=491–517 |doi=10.3200/DEMO.13.4.491-518 |issn=1074-6846 |eissn=1940-4603 |doi-access=free |ref={{sfnRef|Kuzio 2005b}}}}
* {{Cite web |script-title=uk:Олійник Володимир Миколайович |trans-title=Oliinyk, Volodymyr Mykolaiovych |url=https://www.chesno.org/politician/287/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260130092029/https://www.chesno.org/politician/287/ |archive-date=30 January 2026 |access-date=5 July 2026 |website=[[Chesno]] |language=uk |ref={{sfnRef|Chesno n.d.}}}}
* {{Cite web |last=Zolotariova |first=Yana |date=20 April 2021 |script-title=uk:Історія виборів: треті вибори Президента України 1999 року |trans-title=History of elections: the third Ukrainian presidential elections, 1999 |url=https://oporaua.org/vybory/istoriia-viboriv-treti-vibori-prezidenta-ukrayini-1999-roku-23023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250915032108/https://www.oporaua.org/vybory/istoriia-viboriv-treti-vibori-prezidenta-ukrayini-1999-roku-23023 |archive-date=15 September 2025 |access-date=7 July 2026 |website=[[PORA|OPORA]] |language=uk}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://cvk.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/vibory1999.pdf |publisher=Central Election Commission of Ukraine |year=2000 |isbn=966-95532-4-5 |editor-last=Riabets |editor-first=M. M. |location=Kyiv |language=uk |script-title=uk:ВИБОРИ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ 1999. Інформаційно-аналітичне видання |trans-title=ELECTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, 1999: Informational and Analytic Publication |editor-last2=Stavniichuk |editor-first2=M. I. |editor-last3=Mandrusova |editor-first3=H. P. |editor-last4=Alsufiev |editor-first4=V. V. |editor-last5=Hashytskyi |editor-first5=O. V. |editor-last6=Davydov |editor-first6=R. K. |editor-last7=Davydovych |editor-first7=Ya. V. |editor-last8=Danylevskyi |editor-first8=Yu. M. |editor-last9=Danyliuk |editor-first9=V. A. |display-editors=1}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
* {{Cite web |script-title=uk:Вибори Президента 99 |trans-title=Presidential elections '99 |url=https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vp1999/webproc0.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260505111743/https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vp1999/webproc0.html |archive-date=5 May 2026 |website=[[Central Election Commission (Ukraine)|Central Election Commission of Ukraine]] |language=uk}} (official website)
* {{Cite web |date=20 December 1999 |title=Ukraine's presidential elections, October 31 and November 14, 1999 |url=https://www.csce.gov/publications/report-ukraines-presidential-elections-october-and-november-1999/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115175821/https://www.csce.gov/publications/report-ukraines-presidential-elections-october-and-november-1999/ |archive-date=15 November 2025 |website=[[Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe]]}}
* {{Cite web |date=7 March 2000 |title=Ukraine, Presidential Election, 31 October and 14 November 1999: Final Report |url=https://odihr.osce.org/odihr/elections/ukraine/15000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509203451/https://odihr.osce.org/odihr/elections/ukraine/15000 |archive-date=9 May 2026 |website=[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]]}}
* {{Cite web |date=17 December 1999 |script-title=uk:Вибори-99 |trans-title=Elections-99 |url=https://dif.org.ua/article/vibori-99 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260212223312/https://dif.org.ua/article/vibori-99 |archive-date=12 February 2026 |website=Democratic Initiatives Foundation |series=Political Portrait of Ukraine |pages=114 |language=uk}}
{{1999 presidential election candidates, Ukraine}}
{{Ukrainian elections}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1999 elections in Europe|Ukraine]]
[[Category:1999 elections in Ukraine|Presidential]]
[[Category:Presidential elections in Ukraine]]
[[Category:October 1999 in Europe|Ukraine]]
[[Category:November 1999 in Europe|Ukraine]]
[[Category:Leonid Kuchma]]