| Vitaliy Masol | |
| Office: | 3rd Prime Minister of Ukraine |
| President: | Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Kuchma |
| Successor: | Yevhen Marchuk |
| Term Start: | 16 June 1994 |
| Term End: | 6 March 1995 |
| Order2: | Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR |
| President2: | Valentyna Shevchenko Volodymyr Ivashko (acting) Leonid Kravchuk (acting) |
| Term Start2: | July 10, 1987 |
| Term End2: | October 23, 1990 |
| Predecessor2: | Oleksandr Liashko |
| Successor2: | Vitold Fokin |
| Order3: | Head of DerzhPlan |
| Primeminister3: | Oleksandr Liashko |
| Term Start3: | January 1979 |
| Term End3: | July 1987 |
| Predecessor3: | Petro Rozenko |
| Successor3: | Vitold Fokin |
| Office4: | People's Deputy of Ukraine |
| Term Start4: | May 1990 |
| Term End4: | May 1994 |
| Term Start5: | May 1994 |
| Term End5: | May 1998 |
| Birth Name: | Vitaliy Andriyovych Masol |
| Birth Date: | 1928 11, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Olyshivka, Kyiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) |
| Death Place: | Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Party: | Communist Party of Ukraine |
| Alma Mater: | Kyiv Polytechnic Institute |
| Spouse: | Nina Masol |
| Children: | Ihor Masol |
| Signature: | Vitaliy Masol Signature 1974.png |
| Native Name Lang: | uk |
Vitaliy Andriyovych Masol (Ukrainian: Віталій Андрійович Масол; 14 November 1928 – 21 September 2018) was a Soviet-Ukrainian politician who served as leader of Ukraine on two occasions. He held various posts in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, most notably the Head of the Council of Ministers, which is the equivalent of today's Prime Minister, from 1987 until late 1990, when he was forced to resign. He was later Prime Minister of Ukraine, confirmed in that post on 16 June 1994. He resigned from that post on 1 March 1995.
Vitaliy Andriyovych Masol was born in a village near Chernihiv, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 14 November 1928.[1] [2] He graduated in 1951 from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked as an engineer at the New Kramatorsk Machinebuilding Factory and rose to become the head of the technical department, the head of the mechanical shop and then the deputy chief engineer. In 1971, he was awarded a doctorate in technical science; his thesis was in regards to the fatigue strength of carbon steel used to manufacture ship propellers at the plant.
Masol was a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine.[3] In 1972, he became deputy chairman of the state planning committee in Ukraine at the invitation of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Vladimir Shcherbitsky. Shcherbitsky had intended to make him deputy minister for oil but decided that there was a more urgent vacancy on the committee. Masol later became chair of the committee and a member of the commission in charge of decontamination following the Chernobyl disaster. Masol became Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Council of Ministers on 16 January 1979.[4]
He served as Head of the Council of Ministers (equivalent of today's Prime Minister) of the Ukrainian SSR from 1987 until 17 October 1990, when he was forced to resign and was replaced by Vitold Fokin.[5] [6] He was forced into resignation by Ukrainian student protests and hunger strikes known as the Revolution on Granite.[5] [7] Masol was a member of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union between 1989 and 1991.[3]
President Leonid Kravchuk's appointment of Masol as Prime Minister of Ukraine on 16 June 1994[5] with his image of "an advocate of state-controlled economy" was seen as a surprise and a pre-election concession to the communist-dominated Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament).[8] Masol was once again reinstated by President Leonid Kuchma.[5] Masol was against most of Kuchma's reform plans and openly so; he sometimes mobilized the Verkhovna Rada against Kuchma.[5] Masol resigned on 1 March 1995, but continued to attend meetings of the Verkhovna Rada.[5] Masol's two periods in this office saw the beginnings of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of a new political system in Ukraine.[9]
During his public service, Vitaliy Masol received numerous civil and state awards and recognition, including the Order of Lenin (in both 1966 and 1986), the Order of the October Revolution (in 1971), the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (in 1978), the Order of the Badge of Honour (in 1960), the Order of Merit 3rd class (in 1997) and 1st Class (in 2008), the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 5th Class (in 1998) and 4th Class (in 2003).[10]
The Kyiv City Council stripped the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Kyiv" from Masol on 26 May 2023. It stated it did so in accordance with Ukrainian decommunization laws.[11]
Masol died on September 21, 2018, in Kyiv,[12] at the age of 89.[13] The cause of death was not revealed.[14]