The Economy of Ukraine On August 24 1991 on the map of the world appeared a new independent state with a thousand-year-old history — Ukraine. To have an idea of Ukraine's economic potential, its resources, and define the scale of reforms which must be carried out let us get acquainted with some objective data.
Ukraine is situated in the geographical centre of Europe. The country occupies a territory of 603.7 thousand sq kilometres. Ukraine's population is 47.6 million people. Occupying 0.45% of the globe's surface and being populated by 0.8% of all earth's dwellers, Ukraine produces almost 5% of the world's output. The country possesses a considerable economic, industrial and agricultural potential. It may be said to be an industrial-agricultural country, with 2/5 of people working in industry and about 1/5 working in agriculture. Most other Ukrainians have jobs in such service industries as education and health care.
Speaking about the industry of Ukraine, two branches should be mentioned as primary in importance. The machine-building is presently the largest branch of industry. It accounts for 1/3 of the national industrial output and employs about 1/4 of Ukraine's workers. The Ukrainian machine-engineering industry manufactures diesel locomotives, railway cars, automobiles, tractors, missiles, sea and river vessels, as well as equipment for metallurgy, mining, textile industries, electric motors, and industrial robots. The country also supplies its domestics market with many household appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, and TV-sets, among others. The ferrous metallurgy industry, centred in the Prydniprovya Economic Region, produces enough iron, cast iron, and steel to satisfy the needs of the whole country, with more left over to export.
Mining occupies an important place in the economy of Ukraine. Speaking about Ukrainian mining, one thinks first of the coal mines of Donbas. But coal is not the only mineral mined in the Donetsk and Northeastern Economic Regions. They have rich mineral deposits and major industrial base with bias towards heavy industry. The Donetsk Basin contains plants producing zinc, plastics, soda and dyes. The area has the greatest concentration of power stations in Ukraine.
The Central, Podillya, Northwestern, Carpathian and Capital Economic Regions have supplies of metals and fuel, largest reserves of minerals and wood. But the top position is held by the sugar industry. Buses of the Lviv plant have won great popularity.
The Prychornomorya Economic Region is close to the sea. Its key sector is shipbuilding. Local factories produce machinery for the power industry, tractors and harvesters. There are many saline deposits for the chemical industry. Southern Ukraine is a large producer of grape wines, canned fruits and vegetables. Crimea has rich recreational resources.
Ukraine has always been associated with grain production. Grain harvests can be up to 50 million metric tons a year (Ukraine has long been referred to as «the bread basket of Europe»). That is natural because of the characteristics if the country's relief and climate. The territory of Ukraine is composed mostly of steppes and plains (over 95% of the land), and the country possesses 25% of all the black soil in the world. Another agricultural asset is the moderately continental climate with 300-600 millimetres of precipitation a year.
There are two main branches of agricultural production in Ukraine: crop production and animal husbandry. Crop production is the practice of growing and harvesting crops. It includes grain and industrial crops, meadow culture, fruit and vegetable raising. Almost 1/2 of the cropping area is occupied by cereals such as winter wheat, maize and legumes, rye, oats and barley. Among the industrial crops such as sugar beet, sunflower, flax the leading position is occupied by sugar beet. Close to 40 types of vegetable crops are grown in Ukraine: potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, red beets, carrots, onions, garlic, etc. Me-or growing is practised mainly in the south.
Animal husbandry is the practice of breeding of farm animals and their use. The most widespread branches of animal husbandry are da iry and beef cattle breeding, pig raising, sheep.farming and bee-keeping. The poultry industry is spread through all the provinces. Birds farmed include chicken, duck, goose, turkey. There are large mechanized poultry farms to produce eggs and meat.
Transport plays a big role in the economy of Ukraine. The railway network has some 22,000 kilometres of track. The ports of Ukraine ensure trade contacts with over 80 countries. The length of navigable rivers in Ukraine is close to 5000 kilometres. The air transport has become one of the principal means of transportation in Ukraine.
As you see, natural and human resources are sufficient for creating a developed internal market and becoming a friendly and equal par'.n er in the world market. There is every reason to believe that Ukraine will quickly enter the family of Europe's leading countries.
IV. Agree or disagree with the statements and correct the false ones:
Ukraine is a purely industrial country.
Machine-building is presently the largest branch of industry.
Ukraine is very rich in mineral resources.
The Donbas is one of the main food suppliers for the country.
Ferrous metallurgy is not developed in Ukraine.
The Prychornomorya Region is Ukraine's major shipbuilding area.
An abundance of black soil is the basis of Ukrainian agriculture.
Sugar beet is the most important industrial crop in Ukraine.
Almost half of the crops grown in this country is cereals.