Read and translate the following text. Ukraine’s Industry and Economy Profile

Ukraine’s Industry and Economy Profile

Ukraine is one of the richest countries of the world in terms of mineral resources. While occupying only 0.4% of the Earth’s surface, Ukraine has 5% of the world’s mineral resources. There are about 9 thousand deposits of coal, natural gas, manganese, salt, nickel and titanium in the country. Ukraine fully satisfies its needs in minerals but it still has to import some of them. So, oil and gas are imported from Russia and Turkmenistan as oil and gas deposits of Ukraine cannot satisfy the country’s needs in these energy resources.

The country has rich reserves of iron ore, bituminous ores and anthracite as well as manganese ores located in Donetsk Coal Basin. This region, in east-central Ukraine, is the basic source of coal supply in Ukraine. With the total area of around 60 thousand square kilometres, its coal deposits are estimated at 109 billion tons. It is the industrial heartland of Ukraine and one of the major heavy-industrial and mining metallurgical complexes of Europe.

The nearby iron ore deposits of Kryvyi Rih are also rich. Kryvyi Rih Basin with iron ore reserves equal to 15 billion tonnes and annual extraction of 87million tonnes takes the first place in the country. Available reserves make it possible to supply ferrous metallurgy with raw materials for quite a long time into the third millennium.

Ukraine is also an important producer of natural gas and petroleum. They are concentrated in Dnipro-Donets (80%) and the Black Sea Coast-Crimea regions. Promising future developments are gas and oil deposits on the continental shelves of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Ukraine is placed at the forefront in Europe as for non-metal minerals. Deposits of mineral wax and brimstone are the largest in the world while those of graphite are the greatest on the European continent. Extraction of rock and potassium salt has been carried out in Ukraine since ancient times.

In the current structure of Ukraine’s industry a great proposition is occupied by heavy industry, especially, the iron and steel, machine-building and coal industries. A considerablepart is played by the food, light and chemical industries.

However, today’s industries are unable to satisfy the consumers’ demands because they are not integrated into the world process of economic, technological and scientific progress. The national industries have low standard in processing raw material and outdatedor worn-out production equipment.

Yet, Ukraine is one of the world’s most productive farming regions and is known as “Europe’s granary”. The main branches of agricultural production are crop production and animal husbandry. Among the crops grown in Ukraine are sugar beet, wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, sunflower, a large variety of grain cultures, fruit and vegetables. The most widespread branches of animal husbandry are dairy and beef cattle breeding and pig raising.

Two important processes characterize Ukraine’s economy today, namely its assertion as that of an independent state, and its transition from planned-centralized to market-controlled.

Ukraine has currently achieved macroeconomic stability. Prices, domestic and foreign trade have been liberalized. Tax and budget systems are also being reformed. A twin-level banking structure took shape: the National Bank of Ukraine, and commercial banks of all types and forms of property.

”Small-scale” privatization is nearly completed in Ukraine today. Privatization has sped up for large and medium size enterprises, including enterprises in the agro-industrial sector.

Ukraine’s foreign policy is aimed at wide and long-term co-operation. Ukraine is acting on the assumption that this is the most effective way of solving not only economic but also political problems.