The Evolution and Characteristics of the Ukrainian Oligarchs’ Political Influence

The aim of this article is to analyze the processes in which the Ukrainian oligarchs have come to gain political influence and the characteristics that the Ukrainian oligarchs’ political influence has exhibited in these processes. The Ukrainian oligarchs’ political influence began to evolve since the late Soviet era and at first it was defensive against and dependent upon state power, but from the late 1990s it began to convert into powerful one that was exercised behind the scenes in formal politics. The Ukrainian oligarchs’ political influence reveals the following characteristics: initially its development was affected by the Soviet heritage; it has mediational, indirect and informal characters since the late 1990s; and it is based upon the oligarchs’ flexible coalition or connections formation.