Economy and industry in Ukraine

Ukraine's present-day economy was developed as an integral part of the larger economy of the Soviet Union. While receiving a smaller share (16% in 1980s) of the USSR's investment funds and producing a greater proportion of goods with a lower set price, Ukraine was still able to produce a larger share of total output in the industrial (17%) and especially the agricultural (21%) sectors of the Soviet economy. In effect, a centrally directed transfer of wealth from Ukraine amounting to 20% of its national income helped to finance economic development in other parts of the Soviet Union, especially Russia and Kazakhstan.

Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close to each other. Rich iron ore reserves located near Kryvy Rih, Kremenchuk, Bilozerka, Mariupol, and Kerch form the basis of Ukraine's large iron and steel industry. One of the richest areas of manganese-bearing ores in the world is located near Nikopol. Bituminous and anthracite coal used for coke are mined in the Donets Coal Basin (commonly called Donbas). Energy for thermal power stations is obtained using the large reserves of brown coal in the Dnipro basin (north of Kryvy Rih) and the bituminous coal deposits of the Lviv-Volhynian Basin north of Lviv.

The 3 major natural-gas and petroleum producing areas in Ukraine are the Subcarpathian region, the Dnipro-Donets region and the Crimean region. In the 1960s, the extraction of natural gas in Ukraine accounted for one-third of the USSR's total output. However, both gas and oil productions declined after 1975, which made Ukraine an importer of fuels today.

Ukraine also has important deposits of titanium, bauxite and mercury ores. A large deposit of izokerite (a natural paraffin wax) is near the city of Boryslav. There are large deposits of potassium salt in Subcarpathia and rock salt in the Donets Coal basin. Some phosphorites and natural sulfur are also found in Ukraine. In many places of the country there are health spas famous for their mineral springs, and in addition, spas near the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov specialize in mud baths.

Owing partly to rich soils and a favourable climate, Ukraine's crop production is highly developed. Its grain and potato output almost rivals that of France, and our country is the world's largest producer of sugar beets. Ukraine's livestock sector lags behind the crop sector, but its total output is still considerably larger than those of most European countries.

The chernozem (black) soils of the forest-steppe zone are among the world's more productive farmlands and are exceptionally good for wheat and sugar beet. Besides wheat, Ukraine produces such grains as barley (mostly for animal feed), buckwheat and rice. Other crops include potatoes, vegetables, melons, berries, fruit, nuts and grapes. Ukraine's most important industrial crop, sugar beet, is concentrated in the forest-steppe zone. Truck farming or market gardening is particularly developed on the outskirts of large cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and others.

Cattle and pigs are raised throughout Ukraine, while chicken, geese and turkey are kept for meat and egg production. There are many large-scale broiler and egg-laying farms close to big cities. Bees are kept in all parts of Ukraine for honey and wax.

Though the collective and state farms remain in the country, the declared intent of the Ukrainian government is to bring about a gradual privatization of farming, but it is a difficult and costly process.

The main fishing grounds are the Black Sea estuaries and the Sea of Azov, though the latter is heavily polluted by chemical fertilizers and pesticides. All the main rivers are full of fish but they suffer from pollution, too.