Economy, Manufacturing

Ukraine has a large ferrous metallurgical industry. Heavy industries such as metalworking, mechanical engineering, and machinery and chemicals manufacturing also dominate the industrial sector. Light industries producing consumer goods such as household appliances are underdeveloped by Western standards. Between 1990 and 1995, output in major industries such as metallurgy, coal mining, and chemicals manufacturing decreased by nearly 60 percent. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s industrial sector has been cut off from its traditional markets, and supplies from former republics are no longer easily accessible. Products of relatively poor quality and stiff international competition obstruct entry into the global market, while the increasing cost of the energy needed to power industry makes many items too expensive to produce. Other products, especially those of the large defense sector, are no longer in demand.