THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT stateless persons acquired citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin (that is, 2.5 times more than the number of the stateless persons registered with the bodies of the Ministry of internal affairs). Between 2002 and 2013, 23,114 stateless persons acquired citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin. This figure, however, is not precise as well because there was no separate registration of the stateless persons acquiring citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin in 2002 and 20062009. As to the present situation, according to the State Migration Service of Ukraine, 6,561 stateless persons had permanent or temporary residence permits in Ukraine as of 30 June 2013. At the same time, UNHCR estimates that 33,271 stateless persons or persons with undetermined nationality were residing in Ukraine at the end of 20133. In the mentioned research it is pointed out, that the data were generally provided by Governments, based on their own definitions and methods of data collection. The substantial differences in figures can explained by the fact that a great number of stateless persons in Ukraine did not receive any document certifying their identity and confirming their statelessness because of imperfections of the laws existing in this field and their implementation. To obtain more exact data, even if not absolute, a special survey could be conducted involving experts on keeping statistical records, lawyers, interpreters and social workers who, by means of using detailed questionnaires, checklists and direct conversations and interviews with individuals predefined as potential stateless persons (and in close cooperation with executive authorities on the ground), would collect quantitative data on this category of persons, determine their geographical location in the territory of Ukraine, and categorize them by indicators such as age, sex, country of origin, etc. Causes of statelessness in Ukraine The problem of statelessness is faced by almost every country of the world, regardless of its state structure and political regime, Ukraine being no exception. Why does statelessness emerge in this country? Emergence of this problem can be caused by a number of reasons including discrimination of minority groups, gaps in citizenship laws, failure to include all residents in an initial population of the country that benefited from citizenship after the dissolution of the USSR, processes of breakup of existing states and establishment of new ones (state 3 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR Global Trends 2013: War’s Human Cost, 20 June 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53a3df694.html 7