the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued
investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved
incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually
improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan
entrepreneurs. Ongoing Ugandan involvement in the war in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption within the government,
and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms
raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth. In 2000,
Uganda qualified for enhanced HIPC debt relief worth $1.3 billion
and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts
combined with the original Highly Indebted Poor Countries HIPC debt
relief add up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001 should be
somewhat lower than in 2000, because of a decline in the price of
coffee, Uganda's principal export.

Ukraine:
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 the unique equipment (for
example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and
mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the
former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially
natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements.
Shortly after independence in late 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. Ukraine's dependence on
Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural
reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external
shocks. Now in his second term, President KUCHMA has pledged to
reduce the number of government agencies and streamline the
regulation process, create a legal environment to encourage
entrepreneurs and protect ownership righ