Industry

For the eighth year in a row, the region's industry has been increasing production volumes. In 2004, industrial production growth was 22.5 percent, while in 2003 it was 122.2 percent. The largest contribution to industrial production was made by food industry and machine-building enterprises. They account for over 44 and 24 percent respectively of the products sold by the region's industrial enterprises last year.

The open joint-stock companies "Lutsk Automobile Plant," "Bearing Plant," "Volynholding," "Kovelmoloko," "Lutsk-Foods," and "Lutskkondyter" operate stably and determine Volyn's industrial potential. The products of these enterprises are in high demand among consumers.

In total, over the year, industrial products worth UAH 2.8 billion were sold, or UAH 2.7 thousand per capita of the region. The highest indicator is in Lutsk district (UAH 8.3 thousand), the cities of Novovolynsk (UAH 6.1 thousand) and Lutsk (UAH 5.9 thousand).

A reserve for increasing the region's industrial potential is reducing the share of enterprises that produce products that do not meet modern requirements and are not in demand among consumers.

Agriculture

Over the year, the agricultural sector produced goods worth almost UAH 2 billion (in comparable prices of 2000). Due to a higher harvest of grain crops and sugar beets than in the previous year, as well as positive developments in poultry farming and milk production, agricultural production grew by 10.2 percent.

Almost 780 thousand tonnes of grain crops were harvested, which is 220 thousand tonnes (39 percent) more than in 2003. The average yield in all categories of farms was 27.5 centners. Agricultural enterprises in Ivanychi, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, and Lutsk districts received over 35 centners of grain per hectare.

Last year, over 684 thousand tonnes of sugar beets were harvested, which is 20 percent more than in the previous year. The increase in production was achieved through a 45-centner increase in sugar beet yield; 237 centners of sugar roots were harvested per hectare. The region also grew 1,030 thousand tonnes of potatoes and 185 thousand tonnes of vegetables.

All categories of agricultural producers sold 84 thousand tonnes of livestock and poultry for slaughter over the year, produced 522 thousand tonnes of milk, and received 214 million eggs. Production of meat and milk increased by 2.9 and 3.8 percent, eggs by 0.8 percent. In agricultural enterprises, poultry meat predominates in the structure of livestock and poultry sales for slaughter. Its share grew over the year from 35 percent to 51 percent.

Livestock productivity increased. In particular, average daily gains of cattle and pigs increased, as did average milk yields per cow. At the same time, a reduction in livestock numbers is observed both in agricultural enterprises (by 5.2–8.2 percent) and in households (by 3–4.8 percent).

Agricultural enterprises sold products worth UAH 354 million over the year, which is UAH 79 million more than the year before last. At the same time, it should be noted that agricultural enterprises account for only 23 percent of production; the rest is produced in households. Therefore, further development of the agricultural sector should be linked to increasing production in agro-formations.

Construction

In 2004, construction enterprises operating under contract agreements performed work worth UAH 255 million through their own efforts, which is 8.4 percent more than in the previous year.

A total of 107 construction enterprises operated (95 percent of their total number). Builders of the city of Lutsk performed over two-thirds of the region-wide volume of work. Construction enterprises in 8 districts and all cities of oblast significance increased their volumes of contract work.

Transport and Communications

Road transport carried 1,201.8 thousand tonnes of freight, which is 3.4 percent more than in 2003. Freight turnover reached 277.5 million tonne-kilometres and grew by 34.7 percent. However, the role of motor transport enterprises is declining. Over the year, they carried 930 thousand tonnes of freight and performed 155 million tonne-kilometres. Shipments decreased by 6.5 percent. At the same time, according to estimated data, vehicles of individual entrepreneurs carried 271.8 thousand tonnes of freight (1.6 times more than a year ago) and performed 122.5 million tonne-kilometres.

The share of passenger transportation carried out by motor transport enterprises is also decreasing. They carried 15.4 million persons and performed 419.7 million passenger-kilometres. The number of passengers carried compared to 2003 decreased by 12.8 percent. Meanwhile, motor transport of individual entrepreneurs carried 91.4 million passengers, of which 71.9 million persons were carried by entrepreneurs of the oblast centre. Railway stations of the region dispatched 1.8 million tonnes of freight and 5.7 million passengers.

Communications enterprises operate stably. Over the year, they provided services worth UAH 165.2 million, of which UAH 15.9 million were to the population. Compared to last year, the total value of services provided in comparable prices grew by 17.2 percent. The largest revenues were received from long-distance (including international) and local telephone communications.

Foreign Trade in Goods

Foreign trade operations in goods were carried out with partners from 77 countries of the world, with goods exported to 66 countries and imports received from 63. Exports of goods to CIS countries increased by 66 percent, and imports from these countries by 45 percent, with their value amounting to USD 63.5 million and USD 466.5 million respectively. Exports of goods to other countries of the world amounted to USD 192.2 million (a quarter more than in 2003), imports to USD 128.3 million (24 percent more).

In the commodity structure of exports, supplies of electrical equipment, products of animal origin, mechanical equipment, chemical industry products, timber, petroleum products, textile products, food products, and products of plant origin predominated.

In the commodity structure of imports, supplies of oil and its refined products, as well as vehicles and mechanical equipment, traditionally predominated. A total of 253 enterprises exported products. Imported goods were received by 320 business entities of the region.

Consumer Market and Services Sector

Retail trade turnover (which includes retail turnover of retail trade enterprises, estimated data on volumes of goods sold at markets and by business entities - natural persons) amounted to UAH 2,095 million over the year, which is 18 percent more than in 2003.

The main share of the total volume of consumer goods sales is formed by enterprises - legal entities engaged in retail trade and restaurant activities. They account for almost two-thirds (61 percent) of turnover. These enterprises sold consumer goods worth UAH 1,323 million, or 19 percent more than the year before last. Over a quarter of retail trade turnover falls on organized and informal markets.

Turnover per capita of the region is also constantly growing. It averaged UAH 105 per month (UAH 77 in 2003). Enterprises for which the main type of activity is the provision of services received almost UAH 518.1 million in income from their sale in 2004, including UAH 227.7 million from services to the population.

Among the regions of the oblast, over two-thirds of services sold fall on cities of oblast significance. On average, one resident of the region received services from specialized enterprises worth UAH 216 in 2004.

Last year, the population of the region paid UAH 138 million for housing and communal services, or 104.2 percent of the amount charged for payment. Although Volyn oblast is among the ten oblasts with the highest level of payment, as of the beginning of 2005 the debt still amounted to UAH 58.4 million. In the city of Lutsk, the population owed UAH 26.4 million, in Novovolynsk UAH 11.1 million, in Kovel UAH 5.7 million, in Volodymyr-Volynskyi UAH 5.2 million.

Since the adoption of the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Approval of the Procedure for Repayment of Restructured Debt and Payment of Current Charges for Housing and Communal Services," 35.2 thousand debt restructuring agreements worth UAH 23.7 million have been concluded in the region. Against repayment of this amount, UAH 7.2 million, or 30.2 percent, has been paid.

In 2004, subsidies to reimburse payment for housing and communal services were assigned to 53.7 thousand families (18.7 percent fewer than in 2003). The average size of the assigned subsidy per family compared to the previous year decreased from UAH 45.8 to UAH 44.6.

Labour Market

Last year, 59 thousand Volyn residents applied to the state employment service for assistance in finding employment, and almost 32 thousand were employed, which is 6 and 9 percent more respectively than the year before last. In total, at the end of the year, over 27 thousand unemployed citizens were registered, almost 99 percent of whom have official unemployed status. Their number decreased by 1.2 percent over the year and equalled 26.7 thousand persons, including in urban settlements by 6 percent to 12.6 thousand, and in rural areas it increased by 4 percent and reached 14.1 thousand persons.

Over three-quarters of registered unemployed receive unemployment benefits from the Fund of Compulsory State Social Insurance in Case of Unemployment. Over the year, UAH 31.5 million was paid out, or an average of UAH 119 per month to each unemployed person who received it.

Wage Level and Payment

During the past year, average earnings of Volyn residents grew by 29 percent and equalled UAH 412. December wages grew by 8 percent compared to November and reached UAH 490.

The highest earnings are among employees in management and supervision in the field of taxation, financial intermediation, and railway transport - more than twice the regional average level; however, they employ only 1–2 percent of the total number of hired workers in the region. In industry (19 percent of the employed), the average monthly wage reached UAH 550; in construction (4 percent), almost UAH 500. The lowest-paid remain workers in agriculture (14 percent of employed Volyn residents), individual services (0.3 percent), primary education (2.6 percent), and social assistance (1.3 percent), where accruals were at the level of UAH 198–282.

The amount of wage arrears is gradually decreasing. Over the year, at economically active enterprises, it decreased by two-thirds.

Demographic Situation

Last year, positive developments occurred in the demographic situation in the region. The number of births in January–November 2004 increased by 5.3 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2003 and amounted to 11.5 thousand persons. At the same time, the number of deaths decreased by 2.4 percent and amounted to 13.7 thousand persons. The volume of natural decrease declined by a factor of 1.4. Natural population decrease was observed in all regions of the oblast except the cities of Lutsk, Kovel, and Kamyn-Kashyrskyi, Liubeshiv, and Ratne districts, where there was a slight increase.

The migration outflow of the population decreased. Over 11 months of last year, 4.9 thousand persons arrived in Volyn from other regions of Ukraine and from abroad, and although over 6 thousand citizens left the oblast, the migration decrease of the population halved. The population of the region decreased by 3.4 thousand persons and, as of December 1, according to estimated data, amounted to 1,045.4 thousand persons.