Oleksandr Kramar’s article “A New Economic Map of Ukraine,” which characterizes the dynamics of the development of Ukraine’s economy, was recently published on the Ukrrudprom web resource.

The article begins with disappointing data: “The economy of Ukraine today is in a much worse state than it was on the eve of the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. Gross domestic product in 2015 was only 80% of the pre-crisis 2007 figure, industrial production decreased by a third, and exports, measured in euros, in the first quarter of 2016 were only 76% of the figure in the first quarter of 2008.”

The author analyzes in detail the economic situation in 2014 compared to 2007. Overall, the country’s GDP in 2014 was 10.7% lower than in 2007. One of the regions that is dragging down the national indicators is Ivano-Frankivsk region (-8.2%). At the same time, the neighboring Ternopil region has been in the lead in terms of economic growth in recent years. The gross regional product in 2014 was 26.2% higher there compared to the pre-crisis 2007.

Ivano-Frankivsk region also experienced a sharp decline in exports (-45.2%). For comparison, the national indicator is 24%. This was a consequence of the region's specialization in exports of chemical products, which are dependent on the Russian market. On the other hand, a number of regions in the growth zone experienced a rapid (1.5-2.5 times) increase in exports: from Ternopil region it increased by 156.3%, Vinnytsia region - by 108.9%, Kyiv region - by 96.5%, Lviv region - by 57.3%, Mykolaiv region - by 52.5%, Odessa region - by 51.2%.

Since 2008, Ukraine has been experiencing a prolonged and significant decline in industrial production. As a result, in 2015, its volume nationwide was only 66.6% of the 2007 level. In Ivano-Frankivsk region, industry also lost: if we do not take into account the Luhansk (-84.5%) and Donetsk (-62.7%) regions affected by hostilities, the industrial decline in Ivano-Frankivsk region was not much, not a little - - 35%.

Instead, production growth is taking place on the Right Bank. The leaders in terms of its growth rates were Zhytomyr region (+78%), the same Ternopil region (+17.6%) and Vinnytsia region (+14.6%).

Our region did not stand out in the overall picture of agricultural development. Although this industry was the driver of the Ukrainian economy during the economic crisis, as the author writes. Ivano-Frankivsk region belongs to the regions where the bulk of production is produced by semi-subsistence peasant farms and the share of subsidiary livestock farming is higher, and where agriculture is developing much more slowly (growth - 27.3%). This is the highest indicator among other “livestock” regions: in Transcarpathia, the increase since 2007 was only 8.5%, in Lviv region — 19.5%, Chernivtsi — 22.5%, Rivne — 25.1%, Kyiv — 26.7%, Volyn — 27.2%.

The author concludes the article with a rather paradoxical message: “in regions with the highest rates of economic growth, official employment indicators are among the lowest, the filling of local budgets and social funds is unsatisfactory, the infrastructure continues to degrade, and a significant part of residents is looking for a means of livelihood beyond their borders.”

Unfortunately, the author does not provide data on how individual regions, including our region, look.

The full text of the article can be found at the link: http://ukrrudprom.ua/digest/Nova_ekonomchna_mapa.html?ref=subscribe.