Bukovina
Welcome Land
Population 944 000
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION
The Chernivtsi region is situated in the South-west of Ukraine in three nature-geographical zones: forest-steppe, occupying the Prut-Dniester interfluve, foremountain zone, distributed between the Carpathians and the Prut River and a mountain zone, embracing the Bukovynian Carpathians.
In its present borders the region territory reaches 1.3% of the territory of Ukraine, on the south and south-west it borders with Romania and Moldova and on the west it borders with the Ivano-Frankivsk, on the north, with the Ternopil and Khmelnytsky and on the east with the Vynnytsia regions. It has good railway and motor-road communication both with foreign countries and neighbouring regions.
The region is devided into 11 administrative districts. It included 11 towns, 8 settlements, 398 villages with 403 000 people in the towns and 541 000 in villages. The population density is 117 people per 1 sq.km.
The region is rich for natural resources. Four oil-gas-bearing deposits (Lopushne, Chornoguzy, Krasnoilsk, Sheremetiv) have been found in the Chernivtsi region territory. Above ten oil-gas-promising areas have been recently opened in the Vyzhnytsya, Novoselytsya, Storozhinets', Putila districts).
There are a lot of building materials in the region bowels. Considerable deposits of gypsum and anhydride exist in the Dniester area and the Prut basin. The northern and eastern districts of the region are rich in marls and limestone.
The loams from the villages of the Vyzhnytsya district are used for brick-tile and pottery production. The red-brown and grey sand stones are used both for road construction and facing the buildings walls.
The region is also rich for the deposits of various sands: concrete, ballast, building and white quartz sands. They are excavated in the villages of the Zastavna district.
The manifestations of gold as well as copper pyrite and polymetal mineraliztion are also worth concern.
The bowels of the Chernivtsi region are rich in mineral water, which occurrence is connected with certain structure-hydrogeological zones. The sodium-chloride brines are distributed in the Lower Miocene deposits of the inner zone of the Forecarpathian trough with mineralization of 10 to 200-300 g/dm .
Sulphate -hydrogen sulphate, ferruginous mineral waters with high contents of biologically active bevalent iron, sources of sulphate-chloride-sodium, sulphate-calcium-sodium and sodium hydrocarbonate waters are available in the region bowels.
Variability of ecological conditions, availability of vertical belts, different kinds of landscapes, climatic conditions favoured the formation of rather rich flora of higher vascular plants in the number of 1500 species.
The most fertile soils are characteristic of the forest-steppe zone. These areas mainly the Dniester terraces, are covered with chernozem with crumb-granular structure, including about 7% of humus.
The derno-meadow low-podzolized, meadow chernozem-podzolized and chernozem-meadow soils fit for growing vegetables are distributed in the Dniester and Prute valleys. There are also grey, light-grey low- and middle-loamy soils in the forest-steppe zone.
The podzolized, derno-podzolized, grey and dark-grey soils are most distributed in the foremounain zone.
Forest brown soils make the basic ground cover of the mountain zone. The areas free of forest vegetation are used for agriculture and cultivated pastures.
The land stock of the region makes 809 600 ha with 477 300 ha of agricultural lands, including 341 900 ha of arable lands, 26 900 ha of long-term stands, 39 000 ha of haying lands, 69 500 ha of pastures. As a result of the broken and hilly relief the agricultural development of the territory makes 60%; the area of arable lands 43%.
Forests, which are the source of wood and products of non-woody plants, are of great importance for economic and social development of the region. Their protection and recreation part is also rather signification.
The total area of forests is 25 800 ha, including that covered with forest 236 800 ha (91.8%); wood reserves are 62 530 000 m .
The mature and declining stands cover the territory of 48 500ha.
Species composition of the forests is rather diverse: conifers (49.5%) and hard-leaved stands (46.2%) prevail, the share of soft-leaved species is rather inconsiderable (3.5%). Spruce, beech, oak, hornbeam, ash, birch are the basic forest-forming species. The prevalence of young growth (29.4%) and middle-aged stands (34.8%) is characteristic of their structure, though the maturating (15.3%) as well as mature and overmature (20.5%) stands also occupy considerable areas that is caused by their low availability. The average age of stands is 60 years.
HISTORY AND CULTURE EXCURSUS
The city of Chernivtsi is the region centre with population of 260 000 people. In accordance with historical documents it was founded in the 12th century at the parting of great trade ways. In the deed of Moldavian sovereign Olexander Dobry of October 8, 1408, the city of Chernivtsi is mentioned as the customs city crossed by the trade roads to about twenty cities of the East and Europe. Today the railway, motor and air communications connect Chernivtsi with the cities of Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Poland, Moldova; the city is crossed by the shortest road between the ports of the Black and the Baltic Seas.
INDUSTRY
Favourable climatic conditions as well as high nature-recreational and resort potential always determined and continue determining to certain extent the economic trends of the Chernivtsi region.
In the years of independence such industry branches as chemical, metal working, instrument making and machine building develop side-by-side with the light, food and wood-working industries. The region makes now about 100% of the total Ukrainian production of oil equipment (SC "Chernivtsi-Machine-Building Plant"), 16.5% of hosiery (SC "Malva"), 4.2% of furniture, 3.2% of knitted garments, considerable share of saw-timber, footwear.
Certain kinds of equipment for heat power plants, oil refineries, knitted goods factories, semiconductor devices are produced only in Chernivtsi.
The main industrial enterprises of the region are as follows: SC "Chernivtsi-Machine-Building Plant" (production of oil production equipment), SC "Voskhod" (textile, carpets), SC "Trembita"(upperwear), association "Chernivtsilegmash" (knitting automates and parts for them), plant "Graviton"(integral circuits, goods of complicated domestic equipment), SC "Kvartz" (optoelectronic facilities), SC "Rozma" (Rubber footwear), UP "Plant of Domestic Chemistry" (varnish-paint-materials), SC Hertsaiv factory "Prut" (upperwear), OSC "Electronmash" (computer facilities), SC "Chernivtsi Chemical Plant", SC Hosiery Enterprise "Malva", knited gloves factory "Nadiya, SC Confectionary "Bukovinka", "Chernivtsi Yeast Plant", OE "Chernivtsi Timber Mill", woodworking plants in Vyzhnytsya, Nepolokivtsi, Krasnoilsk, Chernivtsi. Each enterprise actively develops a network of its shops which runs to above 40 ones.
The region numbers 81 enterprises of food and processing industries which provide the processing of agricultural products and can process above 700 denominations of life-important food products. The meat, milk, sugar, oil-fat, confectionery, bakery, canning, brewery-soft drink, alcohol, liqueur-vodka, grain-elevator branches are the basic ones in the region. The city of Chernivtsi and its districts number 4 sugar plants, 9 enterprises of grain-elevator and grain-processing industry, 11 milk-processing plants. Besides, the collective and state agricultural farms have 172 mills, 32 backers, 50 oil-mills, 15 sausage shops 16 shops of mineral water bottling, 32 canneries, 25 sawmills, 81 woodworking, 22 packing, 34 tile shops, 33 brick plants. About 50 new subsidiary enterprises have been built and put in operation in the years of Ukraine independence: their number has reached 1298 units by 1998.
AGRICULTURE
The agroindustrial complex is the important part of the national economy production in the Chernivtsi region.
By February 1, 1998 the agricultural production was made by 25 agrofirms, 6 stock companies, 4 associations, 2 co-operatives, 677 farmer's and 270 500 individuals.
Cereals, sugar beet, potato, vegetables, fruit, flax, milk, meat, eggs; cattle, swine, sheep and poultry meat are the basic kinds of agricultural products and raw materials manufactured in the region.
The agroindustrial complex of the region in 1997 has produced 2 766 000 centners of cereals, 64 200 centners of sugar, 118 000 c of potato, 145 000 c of vegetables, 600 tons of sunflower, 16 700 tons of meat, 71 700 tons of milk, 48 600 tons of wool, 8 100 000 eggs. The Chernivtsi region produces in total 1.9% of gross product of agriculture in Ukraine, including granulated sugar 2.6%, butter 1.6%, 2.1% of the state production of potato, vegetables 1.3%, flax 1%, fruit and berries 3.9%, sugar beet 1.9%, meat 1.8%, milk 1.4%, eggs 0.8%.
In 1995 the region reached the highest in the country yield of cereals (35.7c/ha), occupied the second place in growing flax (5.9 c/ha), and the third place in growing sugar beet (238.5c/ha) and the sixth place in growing potato (107.3 c/ha).
They have reformed 211 collective agricultural enterprises making 91% of the total number, 215 (99%) farms have received the state acts for the right of collective property for the earth. Farmers cultivate above 3000 ha of agricultural lands.
FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
The frontier distribution, favourable nature-climatic conditions, rich recreation resources, economic and scientific potential, socio-cultural and historical traditions open the broad prospects for the development of fruitful international co-operation.
The foreign economic activity of the region is directed to development of the export potential in all the spheres of the national economy.
The product of machine-building, forestry, wood-working, light and food industries prevail in the export structure. Russia, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Bilorus', Moldova, Romania, Turkmenia, Austria are main importers.
The products of technical purpose, industrial and food products prevail in the structure of import. Russia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Bilorus' are main exporters.
Trade relations are kept with the countries of CIS and Baltia, Europe, Asia, America.
For 1.02.1998 267 joint ventures with foreign investments have been registered in the region; about 30 countries of the world are presented in JVs of the region.
For 01.01.98 the volume of foreign investments in the Chernivtsi region made $ 9 245 300. During 1997 the volume of investments has grown by $ 3 642 700 (63% of the sum invested before 1997).
