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@Ukraine:Economy

Economy-overview: 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 1992-97 fell to less than half 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. Implementation of KUCHMA's economic agenda is encountering
considerable resistance from parliament, entrenched bureaucrats, and
industrial interests; and an environment of corruption continues to
discourage foreign investors. One signal achievement has been the
reduction of the inflation rate to 10% by yearend 1997. If KUCHMA
succeeds in implementing aggressive market reforms during 1998, the
economy should reverse its downward trend, with real growth occurring
by late 1998 and into 1999.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$124.9 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: -3.2% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$2,500 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 14%
industry: 30%
services: 56% (1997 est.)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 10% (yearend 1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 22.8 million (yearend 1997)
by occupation: industry and construction 32%, agriculture and forestry
24%, health, education, and culture 17%, trade and distribution 8%,
transport and communication 7%, other 12% (199