Kharkiv Oblast

Area 31,400 sq. km.
Population 3,000,000

The Kharkiv oblast is located in the southeast of the lef bank of Ukraine, in the territory of the forest/steppe and steppe zones. It borders on Bilhorod oblast of Russia in the north, on Luhansk in the East, on Donetsk in the northeast, on Dnipropetrovsk in the South, on Poltava in the West, and on Sumy oblast in the northwest.

The oblast's area makes up 5.2% of the territory of Ukraine and takes the third position in Ukraine as to the number of population.

Minerals mainly comprise the fuel power resources and building materials. The Kharkiv oblast has the deposits of natural gas and oil, brown and bituminous coal, iron ore. The fuel power resources are mainly represented by a number of deposits of fuel gas in Shebelinka (Balakliya district), Krestyshchivka (Krasnograd district), and Kegychivka (Kegychivka district).

The deposits of building materials of sedimentary origin such as sands, clays, chalks, limestone are most distributed ones in the oblast. The Novoselivka deposit of extremely pure glass sands and Sukho-Kaminsk deposit of ochre are of great significance in the oblast. Loam, potter's clay and chalk occur all over the oblast's territory.

There are some mineral water springs in the oblast, the widely known is "Berezivske" spring.

The oblast is divided into 27 administrative oblasts, including 15 cities and 19 town type villages.

Foreign economic relations

The foreign trade turnover of the oblast during 1997 made up $ 582,000,000, including export $ 402,000,000 and import $ 582,000,000. The credit balance of foreign trade in commodities was $ 180,000,000. The foreign trade turnover has increased by 94.5% against the corresponding period last year.

Export commodity structure is mainly composed at the expense of machines, equipment and mechanisms deliveries (40.6% of the total volume of the oblast export), overland, air and water transport facilities (21.6%), base metals and goods made of them (8.4%), products of chemistry and relative branches of industry (8.7%), food industry products (4.3%), instruments (3.3%).

Machines, equipment and mechanisms (27.1%), mineral products (17.6%), mineral fuel, oil and oil refinement products (17.1%), chemistry products and relative to it branches (8.7%), base metals and goods made of them (6.6%), food industry products (61%), paper making stock of wood or other fibres (4.7%) prevail in the import commodity structure.

The total volume of export to the far foreign countries is 31.2%, total volume of import 47.3%, which makes 40.7% of the foreign trade turnover of the Kharkiv oblast. The total sum of the export shipment to foreign countries during 1997 has made $ 125,400,000. The share of export in the foreign trade turnover of the oblast with foreign countries was 31.3%.

The highest volumes of export deliveries were performed to the countries of Asia ($ 74,900,000 or 59.7%), Europe ($ 44,900,000 or 35.8%) and America ($ 4,050,000 or 3.2%).

The total sum of import from foreign countries during 1997 was $ 275,100,000. The share of import in foreign trade turnover of the oblast with foreign countries was 68.75%. Deliveries from the countries of Europe ( $ 212,500,000 or 77.24%), Asia ($ 42,700,000 or 15.52%), America ($ 15,600,000 or 5.67%). The credit balance with foreign countries has made $ 149,700,000.

Foreign investments to the oblast economy made above $ 30,000,000 (almost thrice annual increase). The investments were attracted from 37 countries of the world and allotted to 146 enterprises.

Background

During the last three centuries of our history, the Kharkiv oblast has become not only a traditional centre of the East Ukrainian lands but also one of the most developed industrial oblasts of Ukraine and in the south of Eastern Europe. However the old history of the land began in the times of antiquity.

Numerous archaeological relics confirm information about the first early settlements on the current Kharkiv oblast territory. This information concerns the end of Late Paleolith (10-12 thousand years ago), but the earlier presence of people is also dated back to the Mousterian time (about 80 000 years ago).

Active settling and development of the Sloboda oblast (Slobozhanshchina) began in the 1630s and acquired the mass character during the war of Liberation of Ukrainian people in 1648-1654. It was then, that the vast territories of the current East of Ukraine were mainly populated by Ukrainians, the migrants from the Trans-Dnieper area (Zadnipryanshchina), who have formed the aboriginal population of the land. In 1654 these lands were called the Sloboda Ukraine or Slobozhanshchina with their centre in Kharkiv which stood on the confluence of the Kharkiv and the Lopan rivers.

Transport and communications

The oblast's territory is crossed by main railways and highways through which it maintains contacts with the Donbas, the Crimea, the Azov and the Black sea ports, industrial centres of Ukraine and CIS countries.

Transport enterprises of all kinds in the oblast will meet the transport demands of national economy and population. It is planned to start operations to replenish the rolling stock of urban motor and electric transport by means of introduction of leasing operations.

It is also planned to implement a number of projects in the oblast aircraft construction, using progressive home technologies, including the production of planes AN-140 and AN-74.

They will continue the construction of State roads Kyiv-Kharkiv-Rostov 6.4 km long and Moscow-Simferopol 7.2 km long. The quantity of construction, reconstruction and capital repair works of the local roads in the oblast's districts will increase.

The implementation of "Complex program of creation of a single national communication system" will be continued. In accordance with this program the construction of the digital transport terminal main channel in the city of Kharkiv will permit increasing the volume of telephone communication more than by 37,000 numbers. The ATC with total capacity of 5,500 numbers is planned to be put into operation in the districts.

Agriculture

The agro industrial complex (AIC) is the second structure subdivision of the oblast economy after industry.

Above a half of the total volume of AIC production falls on agriculture.

Agricultural production of the oblast has the multibranch structure, its basic industries are plant growing (54%) and cattle breeding (46%).

The area of agricultural lands of all the categories of economies makes 2,400,000 ha including arable land 1,900,000 ha (5.9% of arable lands of Ukraine).

Agricultural products in the oblast are made at 490 collective agricultural enterprises of nonstate forms of property, 1160 private farms and by almost 556,000 citizens working on plots of their own.

Grain production makes 30% of plant growing, sugar beet industry - 23.4%, sunflower -14%, vegetables -5.3%. The rest falls on fodder production and some other subsidiary industries.

Arable lands with the total area of 1,900,000 ha are mainly occupied by the sowing areas.

Grain cultures: winter and spring wheat, rye, barley (550,000 ha) occupy the leading position in the structure of sowing areas, maize occupies the second position.

Vegetables are grown everywhere in the Kharkiv oblast.

Horticulture is the important branch of plant growing, the total area of fruit and berry stands making 20,000 ha.

Industry

The Kharkiv oblast has a powerful industrial, scientific and agrarian potential. There are above 1,300 industrial enterprises, building, transport establishments and organisations and a considerable number of agrarian enterprises.

The oblast's economy is mainly industrially based.

In 1997 the output of industrial products grew by 8.1% against 1996, that was for the first time during the recent years. The productivity increase was achieved in 7 basic branches that formed 73% in the total turnout. More than a half of enterprises (53%) have increased or stabilised their turnout.

Power engineering is one of the basic branches in the oblast's economy and gives almost 40% of the budget receipts.

Energetic safety and operation stability of production powers was the basic task of the power engineering industry.

The fuel power complex of the Kharkiv oblast is a unique one in Ukraine. Its uniqueness is determined by two factors: firstly, almost a half of Ukrainian gas is produced there, secondly, the oblast power system under general deficit of generating powers, can be separated from a single power system of Ukraine and support itself at the expense of its own generating powers and transfers from Russia. Today there are 39 gas and gas condensate deposits in the oblast with the balance gas reserves equal to 347,000,000,000 m . About 7,000,000,000 m of gas are extracted from the developed bore holes. It was planned to consume about 6,000,000,000 m of natural gas in 1997, including 2,700,000,000 m for the power industry and 2,300,000,000 m for public service and population needs.

In 1997 37 developed bore holes that produce 60,000,000 m were put into exploitation, the works at Yuliivsky oil and gas condensate deposit are being completed, but even now the Kharkiv TES has received additional 500,000 m of gas per day; the Shebelinka plant of high octane petrol produces 250,000 tons of petrol (AI-98) and 100,000 tons of diesel fuel per year.

The fuel power complex is presented by gas producing enterprises SE "Shebelinkagazprom", SE "Kharkivtransgaz", generating SSEIP "Kharkivoblenergo" and "Zmiivka SRPP", heat supply enterprises "Kharkiv Heat Networks", SSEIP "Kharkivoblenergo" and "Kharkivteploenergo".

"Kharkivtransgaz" enterprise. State enterprise "Kharkivtransgaz" has on its balance 17 gas, gas condensate and oil deposits, 9 of which are on the territory of the Kharkiv oblast.

Oblastal estimated balance reserves of carbon are: gas 55,730,000, 000 m , condensate 6,372,000 tons, oil 3,560,000 tons. Five gas condensate deposits are being developed in the oblast now, 4 more deposits still wait. The total average diurnal production of carbon by enterprise "Kharkivtransgas" in the Kharkiv oblast makes up 4,080,000 m of gas and 202 tons of condensate.

Enterprise "Shebelinkagazprom". The production economic activity of SE "Shebelinkagazprom", meeting about 80% of the oblast's needs, includes gas, oil and condensate production, , transportation of the gas purchased by Ukraine in CIS countries, pumping and storage of gas with its following delivery to the consumer, refining gas condensate, as well as machine building.

Enterprise "Shebelinkagazprom" develops 22 deposits with the total stock of 1004 operating bore holes (for 1.04.97) and 7 oil bore holes, provides natural gas production 5,740,000 m (1997), condensate and oil -31,000 tons per year.

The Shebelinka gas processing plant produces: motor petrol A-76, ethylated AI-92, diesel fuel, white spirit, straight run petrol, rarefied gas.