Leonid Kuchma

Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (born August 9, 1938) has been the President of Ukraine since 1994.

Kuchma was born in Chaikyne village in the Chernihiv region. His father was killed at the front in 1944, during World War II. Kuchma studied at Dnipropetrovs'k university and got a degree in rocket engineering. He was a leading engineer at Baikonur, and moved into senior management posts as well as the Communist party elite. Kuchma played an important role in Soviet strategic missile and space rocket programs as an executive of "Yuzmash" industrial company in Dnipropetrovs'k . From 1990 to 1992 he was a member of the Ukrainian parliament (Committee on Defence and State Security), and became Prime Minister of Ukraine in 1992.

He resigned his position in September 1993, to run for the presidency in 1994, on a platform to boost the economy and strengthen ties with Russia. He was re-elected in 1999. Opponents have accused him of involvement in the killing in 2000 of journalist Georgiy Gongadze (see also SBU, "Cassette Scandal", Mykola Mel`nychenko), which he has always denied. They also blame him for restrictions on press freedom.

His Prime Minister has since 2002 been Viktor Yanukovych, after he sacked Anatoli Kinakh, his previous appointee.

Under the current constitution he will step down as president in October 2004.