The Party of Regions (Ukrainian: Партія регіонів, pronounced ; Russian: Партия регионов) is a Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine.
It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others. According to the party’s leadership in 2002, from the creation of the party to the end of 2001 the number of members jumped from 30,000 to 500,000. The party claims to ideologically defend and uphold the rights of ethnic Russians and speakers of the Russian language in Ukraine. It originally supported president Leonid Kuchma and joined the pro-government For United Ukraine alliance during the parliamentary elections on 30 March 2002. The party's leader is the former acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. The areas the Party of Regions does well in are mostly parts of historic Novorossiya.
Its electoral and financial base is located primarily in the east and south-east of Ukraine, where it enjoys wide popular support. In the Eastern Ukrainian Donetsk Oblast the party claims to have over 700,000 members. The party is supported mostly by people older than 45 years.
Read more about Party Of Regions: Party's Electoral Results, Recent Issue Stances, Selected Members, Vremya Regionov
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