Ukraine’s Economy

Ukraine has well-developed scientific and industrial base. The national economy includes such spheres as heavy machine building, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, shipbuilding, automotive industry, manufacturing of tractors and other agriculture machinery, diesel locomotive manufacturing, turbines and aircraft engines, production of power plants’, oil extraction and chemical equipment and so on. Ukraine is also a powerful manufacturer of energy.

Machine-building. Machine-building is one of the leading sectors of industry of Ukraine with its production potential composed by 1,2 thousand industrial enterprises, 2 thirds of which have already been privatised or are at the stage of privatisation.

Aviation complex. Ukraine belongs to 8 countries of the world, which have necessary scientific-technical potential for creation and production of competitive aviation equipment. Among the main enterprises are ASTC named after Antonov, State Design Bureau "Pivdenne", Production Association "Pivdennyi Machine-Building Plant named after Makarov", Kharkiv State Aviation Production Enterprise, Kyiv State Aviation Plant "Aviant" and OJSC "Motor Sich". Passenger and transportation aircrafts, known in the world under brand name "An", rocket-carriers and space apparatus of different determination are created and serially manufactured here. It is Ukrainian rocket-carriers "Zenith" and "Tsyklon", which are recognised to be perspective among world consumers; at present they operate in the framework of international space projects "Global Star" and "Sea Launch".

Shipbuilding. The basis of the field is formed by 9 shipbuilding plants as well as enterprises of ship machine-building, scientific-research institutes and design bureaus. Availability of production, scientific research and staff potential allows to satisfy demands of customers in the construction and repairing of vessels and ships of practically all types and classes. Shipbuilding plants have mastered the production of the new types of vessels, competitive in the world market.

Iron and steel complex of Ukraine consists of 365 enterprises, including 14 metallurgical factories and plants, 7 pipe production plants, 10 plants of hardware production, 16 coke chemical plants, 17 plants on the production of fire resistant, 26 ore extracting enterprises, 3 iron alloy plants, 26 plants of non-ferrous metallurgy, 35 enterprises of second black and coloured metallurgy. According to the volumes of production metallurgical complex of Ukraine occupies the third place in Europe and the seventh place in the world. The basic technological cycles are extraction of raw materials, production of cast iron and rolled steel. The leading enterprises of the field are – OJSC "Mariupol Metallurgical Factory named after Illich" (Mariupol), State Factory "Kryvorizhstal’" (Kryvyi Rih), OJSC "Metallurgical factory "Azovstal’" (Mariupol’), OJSC "Zaporizhstal’" (Zaporizhzhya) and others.

Non-ferrous metallurgy has such subfields in its structure: mineral-raw material, mountain ore, aluminium, titanium-magnesium, rare metal and semi-conductive materials, hard alloy, lead-zinc, antimony-mercury, electrode, metal processing, silicon.

Chemical and petrochemical industry. At present in the chemical complex of Ukraine there are more than 200 enterprises 62,7% of which are Joint Stock companies. In the conditions of hard competition in such segments of market of chemical goods as nitrogen fertilizers and ammonia, enterprises in a whole preserve significant volumes of export supplies at the expense of goods of non-organic chemistry, organic synthesis, tyres, chemical fibers, etc.

Energy sector is a highly developed branch of the national economy of the country with a full cycle of designing, production, distribution and sale of the electric power and heat energy. That provides power supply to the internal consumers. The total capacity of the power stations in the country is 53.9 million kW. Among those the thermal power plants (TPP) are 36.4 million kW (or 67 per cent), the nuclear power plants (NPP) are 12.8 million kW (or 24 per cent), and hydraulic power plants (HPP) are 4.7 million kW (or 9 per cent). Distribution of the power within UES is performed by 27 Joint Stock local energy transmitting companies.

Light industry – is one of the most socially significant fields of national economy. It unites 25 subfields, that comprises almost 500 production enterprises. They export flax, cotton, silk cloths as well as cloths for tights and stockings, jersey and ready made garments, china-pottery dishes, artificial leather, etc.

Transportation complex. As indicated by the transit factor, Ukraine ranks among the leaders in Europe. The European Transportation Conference in Crete (1994) identified 10 trans-European corridors of which four cross Ukraine. Development of the Transcaucasian transport/communications project (TRACECA Project) to span Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia is underway. Ukraine has developed pipeline, railroad, and automotive transport networks. Of these, railroad is the indisputable leader, claiming 50% to 70% of long-distance carriage. Its tracks rank fourth in length worldwide (after the USA, Russia, and Canada). Truck carriage comes second. The most important highways are under reconstruction. Ukraine’s gas pipelines exceed 35,000 kilometers and they are capable of pumping 290 billion cu. meters of gas annually. There are about 4,000 km of major oil-pipelines transporting 90% of Russia’s oil to Europe. Construction of the Odesa-Brody oil pipeline was completed in 2001 in combination with an oil terminal in the port of Pivdennyi. The Black Sea and the Azov Sea play an important role in coastal and international traffic. The most important ports in Ukraine are Odessa, Illichivsk, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Feodosiya, and Izmayil.