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Ukraine

Recent policy and business developments in Ukraine

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General Background

Population: 52 million (January 1993)

Area: 233,100 square miles

Capital: Kiev (Kyyiv) (population 2,646,000)

Other cities: Kharkov (1,700,000), Yekaterinoslav (formerly Dnipropetrovsk - 1,186,000), Yuzovka (formerly Donetsk - 1,121,000), Odessa (1,087,000), Zaporozhye (900,000), Lviv (810,000), Krivoi Rog (720,000)

Language: Ukrainian (but Russian is widely spoken)

Religions: Greek Orthodox, Ukrainian Uniate, Roman Catholic

Economy and Economic Data

GDP per capita: $694 (1994)

Currency: hryvna; 1.76 hryvna = $1 (September 1996)

Average wage: $53 per month (July 1995)

Major industries: metallurgy (especially iron and steel), machine building, chemicals (fertilizers, sulfuric acid, pesticides, synthetic fibers, etc.), building materials (especially cement), food processing, electronics, textiles, timber

Agriculture: grain, sugar beets, vegetables, potatoes, milk, eggs, meat

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, oil and natural gas, manganese, salt, graphite, potassium, sulfur, gypsum, titanium, bauxite

Government

Parliamentary republic - the president is directly elected and nominates the prime minister

Head of State: President Leonid Kuchma (elected in July 1994, next election 1998)

Prime Minister: Yevhen Marchuk (appointed April 1995)

Parliament: Supreme Council, a unicameral assembly of 450 deputies. No. of seats of major parties: Communist Party of Ukraine - 91, Socialist Party of Ukraine - 27, Agrarians of Ukraine - 25, Agrarians for Reforms - 27, Inter-regional Bloc for Reforms - 32, People's Party of Ukraine (Rukh) - 27, Center Party - 37, Reform group - 36, Dershavnist (statehood) Party - 30, Yednist (unity) group - 34, independents - 36

Treaties and Agreements in Force

European Union:

OECD: no

Central European Free Trade Agreement:

World Trade Organization: no

GATT:

EFTA: no

IMF and World Bank member: yes (1992)

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development member: yes

Most-Favored-Nation status with United States: yes (1992)

Bilateral Investment Treaty with United States: yes (1994)

Bilateral Trade Agreement with United States: yes (1992)

General System of Preferences with United States: yes (1994)

International environmental agreements:

Articles related to Ukraine in the East/West Letter

• "Motorola Pulls Out of Ukraine Venture" in March/April 1997.
• "Cola Wars in Ukraine: Coke and Pepsi Gear Up Production" in January/February 1997.
• "Ukraine's New Constitution" in July/August 1996.
• "After Long Wait, Hryvna Arrives: Ukraine introduces national currency" in July/August 1996.
• "Needed: A Few Good G-Men: The Roots, and Fruit, of Crime and Corruption in the Ex-USSR " by Lynda Maillet [Review of "Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya" by Stephen Handelman] in July 1995.
• "Ukraine Moves on Privatization: Finally a Light at the End of the Tunnel?" by Sue Davis in March/April 1995.
• "The Foreign Investment Climate in Ukraine: Will There Be a Silver Lining?" by Bryan Prohm in July/August 1994.
• "Privatization in the Former Soviet Republics: So Many Vouchers, So Little Time" by Lynda Maillet in May/June 1994.
• "Anger Over Economy Swamps Kravchuk: Nationalists Lose in Ukraine" by Bryan Prohm in May/June 1994.
• "Ukraine Votes, Problems Remain" in March/April 1994.
• "International Aspects of Crime & Corruption in the ex-USSR: Russia's Leaky Borders" by Lynda Maillet in July/August 1993.
• "Monetary Policy in the Former Soviet Union: The 'Ruble Zone' Revisited" by Thomas Sigel in Spring 1993.
• "Organized Crime & Corruption in the Former Soviet Union: The Rising Tide of Graft" by Lynda Maillet in Winter 1993.
• "A Russian Silent Spring?" by Lynda Maillet [Review of "Ecocide in the USSR: Health and Nature Under Siege" by Murray Feshbach and Alfred Friendly, Jr.] in Winter 1993.
• "Tax Trends: Taxation in East Europe and the ex-USSR" in Summer 1992.
• "Cleaning Up Is Hard To Do: Foreign Investment & the Environment in Eastern Europe" by Lynda Maillet in Spring 1992.
• "In the Wake of the August Coup: Change in the ex-USSR" by Lynda Maillet & Steve Norton in Winter 1992.

Links to other Ukraine-related web sites