Union of Ukrainian Merchants and Entrepreneurs

Union of Ukrainian Merchants and Entrepreneurs (Союз українських купців і промисловців; Soiuz ukrainskykh kuptsiv i promyslovtsiv, or СУКП; SUKP). An organization of Ukrainian businessmen in Western Ukraine, established in 1923 with headquarters in Lviv. Until 1933 it was called the Union of Ukrainian Merchants. SUKP represented businessmen and entrepreneurs, encouraged the development of the private sector in the Ukrainian economy, organized exhibitions of goods manufactured by Ukrainians, defended the interests of the Ukrainian business community before the Polish government, helped organize Prombank, published the semimonthly Torhovlia i promysl and an almanac, and assisted the Ukrainian co-operative movement. The Polish government permitted it to operate only in Galicia, but the union accepted members from Volhynia and even from abroad. In 1937 it had 29 branches and 3,137 members (in 1934 the respective figures were 10 and 521). Separate sections were established in the organization for manufacturers, retailers, young businessmen, restaurateurs, and so on. SUKP was headed by Ye. Martynets, Roman Zubyk, Hryhorii Hanuliak (1928–34), and Ya. Skopliak; other leading figures in the organization included Ye. Hovykovych, Vasyl Ryzhevsky, Sylvestr Herasymovych, Ye. Dumyn, Mykola Zaiachkivsky, D. Koniukh, Yurii Tys, and M. Lazorko. After the Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine in 1939 (following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the beginning of the Second World War), SUKP suspended its activities. The Labor Alliance of Merchants and Entrepreneurs under the Ukrainian Central Committee continued the work of the SUKP in the German-run Generalgouvernement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nestorovych, Volodymyr. Ukraïns'ki kuptsi i promyslovtsi v Zakhidnii Ukraïni, 1920–1945 (Toronto–Chicago 1977)

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]