1994 Edition

Administrative divisions

24 oblasti (singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya respublika), and 2 municipalites (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkas'ka (Cherkasy), Chernihivs'ka (Chernihiv), Chernivets'ka (Chernitsi), Dnipropetrovs'ka (Dnipropetrovs'k), Donets'ka (Donets'k), Ivano-Frankivs'ka (Ivano-Frankivs'k), Kharkivs'ka (Kharkiv), Khersons'ka (Kherson), Khmel'nyts'ka (Khmel'nyts'kyy), Kirovohrads'ka (Kirovohrad), Kyyiv**, Kyyivs'ka (Kiev), Luhans'ka (Luhans'k), L'vivs'ka (L'viv), Mykolayivs'ka (Mykolayiv), Odes'ka (Odesa), Poltavs'ka (Poltava), Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Rivnens'ka (Rivne), Sevastopol'**,Sums'ka (Sevastopol'), Ternopil's'ka (Ternopil'), Vinnyts'ka (Vinnytsya), Volyns'ka (Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya), Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr) note: names in parentheses are administrative centers when name differs from oblast' name

Agriculture

accounts for about 25% of GDP; grain, vegetables, meat, milk, sugar beets

Airports

total: 694 usable: 199 with permanent-surface runways: 111 with runways over 3,659 m: 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 81 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 78 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Area

total area: 603,700 sq km land area: 603,700 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas

Birth rate

12.34 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Capital

Kiev (Kyyiv)

Climate

temperate continental; subtropical only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Coastline

2,782 km

Constitution

using 1978 pre-independence constitution; new constitution currently being drafted

Currency

Ukraine withdrew the Russian ruble from circulation on 12 November 1992 and declared the karbovanets (plural karbovantsi) sole legal tender in Ukrainian markets; Ukrainian officials claim this is an interim move toward introducing a new currency - the hryvnya - possibly in mid-1994

Death rate

12.6 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Defense expenditures

544,256 million karbovantsi, NA% of GDP (forecast for 1993); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Digraph

UP

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Oleh Hryhorovych BILORUS chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: (202) 333-0606

Economic aid

$350 million economic aid and $350 million to help disassemble the atomic weapons from the US in 1994

Electricity

capacity: 55,882,000 kW production: 281 billion kWh consumption per capita: 5,410 kWh (1992)

Environment

current issues: unsafe drinking water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Ethnic divisions

Ukrainian 73%, Russian 22%, Jewish 1%, other 4%

Exchange rates

NA

Executive branch

chief of state: President-elect Leonid D. KUCHMA; election last held 26 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 1999); results - Leonid KUCHMA 52.15%, Leonid KRAVCHUK 45.06% head of government: Prime Minister (vacant); Acting First Deputy Prime Minister (and Acting Prime Minister since September 1993) Yukhym Leonidovych ZVYAHIL'SKYY (since 11 June 1993) and five deputy prime ministers cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council

Exports

$3 billion to countries outside of the FSU (1993) commodities: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, grain, meat partners: FSU countries, Germany, China, Austria

External debt

$NA

FAX

(202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York

[7] (044) 244-7350

Fiscal year

calendar year

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky

Highways

total: 273,700 km paved and gravel: 236,400 km unpaved: earth 37,300 km

Illicit drugs

illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment points for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$2.2 billion from outside of the FSU countries (1993) commodities: machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals, textiles partners: FSU countries, Germany, China, Austria

Independence

1 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Industrial production

growth rate -14% (1993); accounts for 50% of GDP

Industries

coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food-processing (especially sugar)

Infant mortality rate

20.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

45% per month (1993)

Inland waterways

1,672 km perennially navigable (Pryp''yat' and Dnipro Rivers)

International disputes

potential future border disputes with Moldova and Romania in Northern Bukovina and southern Odes'ka Oblast'; potential dispute with Moldova over former southern Bessarabian area; potential dispute with Russia over Crimea; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation

Irrigated land

26,000 sq km (1990)

Judicial branch

being organized

Labor force

23.985 million by occupation: industry and construction 33%, agriculture and forestry 21%, health, education, and culture 16%, trade and distribution 7%, transport and communication 7%, other 16% (1992)

Land boundaries

total 4,558 km, Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (southwest) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km

Land use

arable land: 56% permanent crops: 2% meadows and pastures: 12% forest and woodland: 0% other: 30%

Languages

Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian

Legal system

based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch

unicameral

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.99 years male: 65.45 years female: 74.76 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1979) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 12,191,984; fit for military service 9,591,276; reach military age (18) annually 364,676 (1994 est.)

Map references

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

NA

Member of

BSEC, CBSS (observer), CCC, CE (guest), CEI (participating), CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNPROFOR, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Merchant marine

390 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,932,009 GRT/5,236,134 DWT, barge carriers 7, bulk cargo 55, cargo 231, chemical tanker 2, container 18, liquefied gas 1, multi-function-large-load-carrier 1, oil tanker 10, passenger 12, passenger cargo 5, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 33, short-sea passenger 8

Names

conventional long form: none conventional short form: Ukraine local long form: none local short form: Ukrayina former: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 August (1991)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $205.4 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Ukrainian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

National product per capita

$3,960 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-16% (1993 est.)

Nationality

noun: Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian

Natural resources

iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulphur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber

Net migration rate

0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Note

strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second largest country in Europe

Other political or pressure groups

New Ukraine (Nova Ukrayina); Congress of National Democratic Forces

Overview

After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union producing more than three times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied equipment and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR. In 1992 the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatizing state enterprises while retaining many central economic controls and continuing subsidies to state production enterprises. In November 1992 the new Prime Minister KUCHMA launched a new economic reform program promising more freedom to the agricultural sector, faster privatization of small and medium enterprises, and stricter control over state subsidies. In 1993, however, severe internal political disputes over the scope and pace of economic reform and payment arrears on energy imports have led to further declines in output, and inflation of 50% or more per month by the last quarter. In first quarter 1994, national income and industrial output were less than two-thirds the first quarter 1993 figures, according to official statistics. At the same time an increasing number of people are developing small private businesses and exploiting opportunities in non-official markets. Even so, the magnitude of the problems and the slow pace in building new market-oriented institutions preclude a near-term recovery of output to the 1990 level. A vital economic concern in 1994 will continue to be Russia's decisions on the prices and quantities of oil and gas to be shipped to the Ukraine.

Pipelines

crude oil 2,010 km; petroleum products 1,920 km; natural gas 7,800 km (1992)

Political parties and leaders

Green Party of Ukraine, Vitaliy KONONOV, leader; Liberal Party of Ukraine, Ihor MERKULOV, chairman; Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine, Volodymyr KLYMCHUK, chairman; Democratic Party of Ukraine, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych YAVORIVSKIY, chairman; People's Party of Ukraine, Leopol'd TABURYANSKYY, chairman; Peasants' Party of Ukraine, Serhiy DOVGRAN', chairman; Party of Democratic Rebirth of Ukraine, Volodymyr FILENKO, chairman; Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, Yuriy ZBITNEV, chairman; Socialist Party of Ukraine, Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman; Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party, Vitaliy ZHURAVSKYY, chairman; Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party, Stepan KHMARA, chairman; Ukrainian Labor Party, Valentyn LANDYK, chairman; Ukrainian Party of Justice, Mykhaylo HRECHKO, chairman; Ukrainian Peasants' Democratic Party, Serhiy PLACHINDA, chairman; Ukrainian Republican Party, Mykhaylo HORYN', chairman; Ukrainian National Conservative Party, Viktor RADIONOV, chairman; Ukrainian People's Movement for Restructuring (Rukh), Vyacheslav CHORNOUL, chairman; Ukrainian Communist Party, Petr SYMONENKO

Population

51,846,958 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

0.05% (1994 est.)

Ports

coastal - Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Sevastopol', Pivdenne; inland - Kiev (Kyyiv)

Railroads

23,350 km (1,524-mm gauge); 8,600 km electrified

Religions

Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Supreme Council

elections last held 27 March 1994 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (450 total) number of seats by party NA; note - 338 deputies were elected; the remaining 112 seats to be filled on 24 July 1994

Telecommunications

the telephone system is inadequate both for business and for personal use; about 7,886,000 telephone circuits serve 52,056,000 people (1991); telephone density is 151.4 telephone circuits per 1,000 persons (1991); 3.56 million applications for telephones had not been satisfied as of January 1991; calls to other CIS countries are carried by land line or microwave; other international calls to 167 countries are carried by satellite or by the 150 leased lines through the Moscow gateway switch; an NMT-450 analog cellular telephone network operates in Kiev (Kyyiv) and allows direct dialing of international calls through Kiev's EWSD digital exchange; electronic mail services have been established in Kiev, Odessa, and Lugansk by Sprint; satellite earth stations employ INTELSAT, INMARSAT, and Intersputnik

Terrain

most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaux, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Total fertility rate

1.82 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Type

republic

Unemployment rate

0.4% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador William MILLER embassy: 10 Yuria Kotsyubinskovo, 252053 Kiev 53 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [7] (044) 244-7349 or 244-7344