Ukraine — Business
Statistics
•GDP: US$399.8 billion (2007).
• Main exports: Ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, and food products.
• Main imports: Energy, machinery and equipment, and chemicals.
• Main trade partners: Russian Federation, Germany, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Italy and USA.
Economy
Ukraine has large areas of very fertile land, which give it its reputation as the ‘bread basket’ of the former Soviet Union. Grain, sugar beet and vegetables are the main crops and there is extensive livestock farming. The country also boasts large mineral resources, particularly coal in the huge Donbass fields, as well as iron ore, manganese and titanium.
There are a few reserves of gas and oil but Ukraine has to import over three-quarters of its requirements of these products from elsewhere, mainly from the Russian Federation, and in recent years has seen its supply temporarily cut off by Russian energy giant Gazprom in protest at non-payment of bills.
Today, the Ukrainian economy is fairly robust: annual GDP growth is now 7% (2007), while inflation remains problematically high at 16.6% (2007). Officially, unemployment is 2.5% of the workforce (2007), but a large ‘grey’ economy has evolved, which some estimates put at half the size of the legitimate economy.
Negotiations for Ukraine’s membership of the World Trade Organization are ongoing. Several of Ukraine’s neighbors are now EU members. Ukraine itself is far from a condition in which it might be accepted for EU membership, but this is bound to have a major impact on the country’s economic policy-making.
Business Etiquette
Suits, and ties for men, are required for official business. Exchange of business cards is extremely common and visitors are advised to bring company cards.
Office hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700/1800. Lunch tends to be at least one and a half hours.
Business Contacts
Chamber of Commerce and Industry
33 vulitsa Velyka Zhytomyrska, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: (44) 272 2911.
Website: www.ucci.org.ua
Ministry of Economy
12/2 vulitsa Grushevskogo, 01008 Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: (44) 253 9394.
Website: www.me.gov.ua
Economic and Commercial Section/Trade and Economic Mission
Embassy of Ukraine in the UK
60 Holland Park, London W11 3SJ, UK
Tel: (020) 7221 0589.
Website: www.mfa.gov.ua/uk
