Council of People's Ministers

The composition of the council was determined by agreement among the major parties (coalition) and confirming by the plenum of Central Council of Ukraine. The list of proposed members was petitioned by the chairman of the Central Council, Mykhailo Hrushevsky.

The former members of secretariat continued to serve now as ministers. The major changes was no introduction of the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and the former secretary of Food Supply Kovalevsky was replaced by Dmytro Koliukh (unaffiliated). Also the Commissioner to the Russian Government was abandoned as well.

Deputy-Chairman: Ivan Kraskovsky (UPSF), Oleksandr Karpynsk, and L.Abramovych.

The initial coalition was composed Esdeks, SRs, Federalists, and national minorities, however by the end of January a crisis has developed between Esdeks and SRs as the Bolshevik forces of the Soviet Russia were quickly advancing towards Kiev, while the Kiev Bolshevik faction instigated another disorder. Rada issued a note of non-confidence in Vynnechenko's government forcing him to resign on January 30, 1918.

A new cabinet was composed mostly out of members of the Socialist-Revolutionary party headed by its leader Vsevolod Holubovych. Along with it a special commission was organized to the Brest-Litovsk negotiations. Holubovych's government existed for about three months. One of the major changes to the cabinet was reappointment of the Minister of Military Affairs, with which Mykola Porsh had a lot of trouble.

Right before the coup d'état (April 29) all members of the Ukrainian Party of Socialists-Federalists left the council.

On April 29 the Central Rada finally adopted its Constitution. In it the Council of People's Ministers was defined as the supreme executive power of the republic. The council was to be formed by the president of the National Assembly in consultation with Council of Starshyna and confirmed by the assembly. The members of the Council of People's Ministers were responsible individually and collectively to the National Assembly.

Between December 15–25 there was a stand off between the Revolutionary Committee in Kiev and the Temporary Council of State Affairs (TRZDS) in Vinnytsia. It took couple of weeks before the new government was formed on December 26. The head of the new cabinet became Volodymyr Chekhivsky. Chekhivsky's government together with the government of Ostapenko altogether lasted for two and a half months. During this period the Ukrainian national forces were almost completely eliminated controlling a miser territory near Rivne–Brody. Both of the governments had also to deal with a series of military revolts against them and were unable to control the situation in the country. They were finally replaced with the Martos-Mazepa government that throughout summer of 1919 were in control of the Podillia territory near Kamyanets.

During this time the Ukrainian nationalists were losing their war against Bolshevik Russia and their puppet-state Ukrainian SSR. On February 5, 1919 the Ukrainian government was forced out of Kiev once again and relocated to Vinnytsia. On February 13 a new government, consisting of non-socialist members, was formed in order to convince the representatives of the Entente to provide some military support in the fight with Bolsheviks. The same day Volodymyr Vynnychenko resigned from the Directorate of Ukraine and emigrated abroad.

The head of the new cabinet became Serhiy Ostapenko who quit the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries. Along with him left the SR party Osyp Nazaruk.

The unsuccessful dialogue with the representatives of the Entente led to dismissal of the Ostapenko's Cabinet.

• People's Secretariat

• Encyclopedia of Ukraine (in English)

• Khrystiuk, P. Zamitky i materiially do istoriï ukraïns’koï revoliutsiï 1917–1920 rr., vol 2 (Notes and materials to the history of the Ukrainian Revolution 1917-1920, vol.2)(Vienna 1921, New York 1969)
• Doroshenko, D. Istoriia Ukraïny 1917–1923 rr., vol 1: Doba Tsentral’noï Rady (History of Ukraine 1917-1923, vol.1: Times of the Central Council) (Uzhhorod 1932, New York 1954)
• Pidhainy, O. The Formation of the Ukrainian Republic (Toronto–New York 1966)
• Zozulia, Ia. (ed). Velyka Ukraïns’ka revoliutsiia: Kalendar istorychnykh podii za liutyi 1917 roku–berezen’ 1918 roku (The Great Ukrainian Revolution: Calendar of historic activities from February 1917 to March 1918) (New York 1967)
• Reshetar Jr, J. The Ukrainian Revolution, 1917–1920: A Study in Nationalism (Princeton 1952, New York 1972)
• Hunczak, T. (ed). The Ukraine, 1917–1921: A Study in Revolution (Cambridge, Mass 1977)
• Verstiuk, V. (ed.) Ukraïns’ka Tsentral’na Rada: dokumenty i materiially v dvokh tomakh (The Ukrainian Central Council: documents and materials in two volumes) (Kiev 1996–7)
• Hunczak, T. The Ukraine, 1917-1921: A Study in Revolution. Cambridge, MA, 1977.