, chemicals, food-processing
(especially sugar)

Industrial production growth rate: -1.5% (1998 est.)

Electricity--production: 171.8 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 47%
hydro: 9.2%
nuclear: 43.8%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity--consumption: 174 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity--exports: 5 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity--imports: 7 billion kWh (1998)

Agriculture--products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds,
vegetables; beef, milk

Exports: $11.3 billion (1998 est.)

Exports--commodities: ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals,
machinery and transport equipment, food products

Exports--partners: Russia, China,, Turkey, Germany, Belarus (1998)

Imports: $13.1 billion (1998 est.)

Imports--commodities: energy, machinery and parts, transportation
equipment, chemicals, plastics and rubber

Imports--partners: Russia, Germany, US, Poland, Italy (1998)

Debt--external: $10.9 billion (October 1998)

Economic aid--recipient: $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds
Facility $2.2 billion (1998)

Currency: 1 hryvna=100 kopiykas

Exchange rates: hryvnia per US$1--3.4270 (February 1999), 2.4495
(1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996), 1.4731 (1995), 0.3275 (1994)
note: in August 1998, Ukraine introduced currency controls in an
attempt to fend off the impact of the Russian financial crisis; it
created an exchange rate corridor for the hryvnia of 2.5-3.5 hryvnia
per US$1

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 12,531,277 (1998)

Telephone system: Ukraine's phone systems are administered
through the State Committee for Communications; Ukraine has a
telecommunication development plan through 2005; Internet service is
available in large cities
domestic: local--Kiev has a digital loop connected to the national
digital backbone; Kiev has several cellular phone companies
providing service in the different standards; some companies offer
intercity roaming and even limited international roaming; cellular
phone service is offered in at least 100 cities nationwide
international: foreign investment in the form of joint business
ventures greatly improved the Ukrainian telephone system; Ukraine's
two main fiber-optic lines are part of the Trans-Asia-Europe
Fiber-Optic Line (TAE); these lines connect Ukraine to worldwide
service through Belarus, Hungary, and Poland; Odesa is a landing
point for the I