CONTRACT LAW IN UKRAINE Dr. Lyubov Logush* I. THE TRADITION OF PRIVATE (CIVIL) LAW The Ukrainian tradition of private law reflects the historical, geopolitical and cultural peculiarities of the development of the Ukrainian state. Due to these circumstances, Ukraine has been confronted with a need for orientation between different directions. The country is therefore sometimes characterized as a frontier state, subject to influ- ences from the West - by the European tradition, from the East - by the Russian tradi- tion, and from the South - by the South-West Asian tradition. Because of competing forces outside Ukraine, established for historical reasons in the Middle Ages, Ukraine was, for a long time, politically split up between Poland and Moscow and culturally influenced by East and West. In particular, there was a considerable influence of the Greek-Byzantine East on the spiritual tradition, and of the Latin West - on the social structures of Ukraine. Although the cultural dimensions of Ukraine are seen as a synthesis between East and West, Ukraine itself is usually characterized as a European state. In the religious sphere such an approach made Ukraine the classical state for the Uniate 1 tradition. In the cultural sphere it has led to the so-called Ukrainian baroque style, which united Byzantine and western traditions. In the sphere of law this is the reason why combinatory and even eclectic methods were used. The division of the Ukrainian culture into two branches (Eastern and Western) is mainly reflected in the development of the private law. Thus, the tradition of law of the Western Ukraine shows a considerable influence of the West, and in the Eastern part of Ukraine the East European tradition is noticeable. These influences have formed the Ukrainian private law as it is on the current stage. They explain the inconsistent at- titude of the society towards the division of the law into private and public law, and the continuous discussion of lawyers on the practicability of separate economic law, i.e. the refusal to include family law in the civil law etc. These peculiarities of the Ukrai- nian private law tradition have influenced the development of the civil law conception of today's Ukraine as well. * National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine. 1 The term "Uniate Church" denotes Orthodox churches accepting the Catholic faith and the supremacy of the Pope but retaining their own liturgy and separate organization. 65