Econom�a - descripci�n: After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four 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. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas. Shortly after the implosion of the USSR in December 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output in 1992-99 fell to less than 40% the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Since his election in July 1994, President KUCHMA has pushed economic reforms, maintained financial discipline, and tried to remove almost all remaining controls over prices and foreign trade. The onset of the financial crisis in Russia dashed Ukraine's hopes for its first year of economic growth in 1998 due to a sharp fall in export revenue and reduced domestic demand. Output continued to drop, slightly, in 1999. The government has also not been able to significantly decrease its huge backlog of wage and pension arrears. Despite increasing pressure from the IMF to accelerate reform, substantial economic restructuring remains unlikely in 2000, largely because of resistance in the communist-dominated legislature to further privatization.

Producto Bruto Interno (PBI): purchasing power parity - $109.5 billion (1999 est.)

PBI - Indice de Incremento real: -0.4% (1999 est.)

PBI - por capital: purchasing power parity - $2,200 (1999 est.)

PBI - Composici�n por Sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 26%
services: 62% (1998 est.)

Poblaci�n bajo linea de pobertad: 50% (1999 est.)

Ingreso en casa o porcentage de consumci�n:
lowest 10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 20.8% (1992)

Indice de Inflaci�n (precios del consumidor): 20% (1999 est.)

Fuerza Laboral: 22.8 million (yearend 1997)

Fuerza Laboral - por ocupaci�n: industry and construction 32%, agriculture and forestry 24%, health, education, and culture 17%, trade and distribution 8%, transport and communication 7%, other 12% (1996)

Indice de desempleo: 4.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1999)

Presupuesto:
revenues: $8.3 billion
expenditures: $8.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 4.3% (1999 est.)

Electricidad - Producci�n: 171 billion kWh (1999)

Electricidad - producci�n por fuente:
fossil fuel: 52%
hydro: 5.9%
nuclear: 42.1%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricidad - consumci�n: 144.011 billion kWh (1998)

Electricidad - exportaciones: 7 billion kWh (1998)

Electricidad - importaciones: 4.15 billion kWh (1998)

Agricultura - productos: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk

Exportaciones: $11.6 billion (1999 est.)

Exporationes - comodidades: ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, food products

Exportaciones - socios: Russia 20%, EU 17%, China 7%, Turkey 6%, US 4% (1999)

Importaciones: $11.8 billion (1999 est.)

Importaciones - comodidades: energy, machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals

Importaciones - socios: Russia 48%, EU 23%, US 3% (1999)

Deuda - externa: $12.6 billion (January 2000 est.)

Ayuda economica - recipiente: $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998)

Moneda: 1 hryvna = 100 kopiykas

Indice de intercambio: hryvnia per US$1 - 5.59 (February 2000), 5.3811 (January 2000), 4.1304 (1999), 2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996), 1.4731 (1995)

A�o Fiscal: calendar year