The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has published an assessment of the results of the activities of regional state administrations in January-September of this year. The best dynamics of regional development based on the results of 9 months of 2005 were observed in Volyn and Sumy oblasts, the worst - in Zaporizhzhia.
Thus, according to the results of activities in 2004, Volyn ranked 13th in the list; for January-June 2005 – 10th; for January-August 2005 – 7th; for January-September 2005 – 6th.
To assess the results of regional activities, the Cabinet of Ministers used a methodology that analyzes 32 indicators in various spheres of activity. In particular, the financial sector, small business development, investment and foreign economic activity, the social sector, the consumer market, crime and response to citizens' appeals.
Traditionally in this methodology, both in 2004 and in 2005, Kyiv leads and Sevastopol is among the first. Yurii Yekhanurov noted that Kyiv and Sevastopol can generally be excluded, since this methodology is intended for regions where there are both urban and rural populations.
According to the indicator of enterprise profits, Volyn oblast took 2nd place after Kyiv oblast. The increase in the share of profitable enterprises in these and some other regions of the state contributed to an increase in the growth rate of profit from ordinary activities before taxation by more than 1.5 times. The profit of Volyn enterprises according to the Cabinet of Ministers' assessment amounted to 309.3 million hryvnias (197% compared to the corresponding period of last year).
According to the indicator of housing commissioning, Volyn oblast entered the top five at 4th place, catching up with the city of Kyiv, Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. In our region, 53 thousand square meters of total area were commissioned, including 5.7 thousand square meters at the expense of state budget funds. Per 10 thousand population, this is 507.6 square meters. Thus, there was an increase of 115.8% compared to the corresponding period of last year.
According to the indicator of population growth/decline, Volyn oblast also occupies 4th place, entering the list of those regions where the population is declining more slowly than in the state as a whole. Positive population growth among all regions of Ukraine is consistently occurring only in the city of Kyiv (1st place), moreover due to a consistently positive migration balance over ten years. The lowest rate of population decline is observed in the territory of the Sevastopol city council (2nd place), and it is maintained exclusively by migration growth. Thus, by natural indicators of population growth/decline, Volyn is ahead of only Zakarpattia, where the population decline is -0.18%. In our region – 0.19% (per thousand residents, 12.2 were born and 15.4 died; the intensity of interregional migration was 0.8%).
According to the indicator of real wages, Volyn is in third position. The growth of this indicator relative to the previous period of last year was 123.9%. Higher only in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast – 124.45 and Ternopil oblast – 124.6%.
According to the Government's assessment, our region entered the top five by the indicator of reduction of wage arrears. The unpaid amount is 9.0 million hryvnias. The rate of reduction of arrears compared to the beginning of the year is 8.6%. The leaders in this group are also Kherson oblast – 40.1%, Donetsk – 13.7%, Ivano-Frankivsk – 13.0% and Khmelnytskyi – 11.7%.
The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine also provided information on emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. The lowest are in Chernivtsi oblast – 2.3 kg per person, somewhat higher in Volyn – 3.8 kg. For comparison – in the most polluted Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk oblasts – 146.2 and 179.9 kg respectively.