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Overview of Lviv Oblast
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Lviv region boasts considerable mineral resources, coal deposits being the largest with concentration of coal approximating to 1,2 billion tons. About 100 million tons of this valuable raw material are concentrated at coal exploration sites.
Besides, natural gas reserves are concentrated at 15 deposits and amount to approx. 300 billion m3.
The Lviv region is also rich in polymineral ores, sulfur, clays, sands, limestone, sandstone and crushed stone mixes.
Mineral waters stand apart within the recreation natural resources base structure. Out of eight types of mineral waters used in balneology, seven types are found in the region. The region has four of the thirteen medicinal water deposits of the Carpathian region.
Reserves of mineral water "Naftusya" are spread all over the region, their total commercial amount allows an exploration rate of 5,000 m3/day. That of medicinal water approximates to 600 m3/day. The most known balneological sanatoriums are Truskavets, Skhidnytsya, Morshin, Velyki Lyubin, and Nemyriv. The existing reserves satisfy completely the demands of health care and recreational organizations of the Region.
INDUSTRYThe Lviv region possesses the most developed industrial potential of the western part of Ukraine.
The most effective directions of industrial production are mining chemistry and petrochemistry. The enterprises of the sector produce:
- lubricants, additives, coolants-lubricants, antirust additives and mastics (Open Joint Stock Companies "Galol", Lviv Pilot Lubricant Plant", "Gallak");
- sulfur and carbon disulfides (Rozdils’ke Enterprise "Sirka", Sokals’k Plant "Galychyna");
- lacquers, paints, including those for printing and machine building, solvents, mastics (Joint Sock company "Lviv Lacquer-and-paint works", Amalgamation "Masma", Joint Stock Company "Gallak");
- air separation products (Joint Stock Company "Lviv Chemistry Plant";
- wide range of drilling tools for oil and gas industry, geology, metallurgy and mining ("Joint Stock Companies "Drogobitskyi Dolotnyi Zavod", "Stryiskyi zavod Metalist").
In the Region the only enterprises in Ukraine operate producing mineral and potassium fertilizers and medicinal and marketable ozokerites (Rozdilske enterprise "Sirka", Joint-Stock companies "Polymineral" and Borislavky ozokerit").
Just ozokerit is used as a partition component in telephone cable connecting Europe and America.
Machine building industry of the region produce:
- various types of buses, trolley buses, automobile cranes (Open Joint Stock companies "LAZ, "Drohobytsky zavod avtomobilnykh kraniv"/plant of auromobile cranes,"Drohobytsky mashinostroitelny zavod"/ machine building plant, Plant LANT");
- small buses intended for mountainous terrain (plant "Stryiauto", Open Joint-Stock company "Stryisky zavod Metalist");
- truck loaders, including those of small lifting capacity (1.6 to 1.8t and 3...4t), electric loaders and battery-operated trucks (Plant "LANT");
- small carrying-capacity running gears, including those for trailers, minibuses for rural areas and trade ("Joint Stock Company "Zavod Lvivcilskomash", Institute Ukravtobudprom" "LAZ");
- assembly unit and parts for transport machine building industry (Joint Stock Company "Lvivsky zavod gidromekhanicheskikh peredach"/plant of hydromechanical transmissions, Plant "LANT", "Stryisky zavod Metalist");
- bicycles and motor bikes (Joint Stock Company "Lviv motozavod");
- a wide range of agricultural machinery ("Plant "Lvivsilmash", Joint Stock Company "Konveer", Novorazdilskiy zavod "Karpaty").
Instrumentation and radio electronics hardware industry produces:
- automatic control and regulation hardware for all types of power generation equipment (DP "Lvivprilad");
- filament lamps (Joint Stock Company "Iskra");
- vacuum hardware (generating lamps, vacuum condensers, gas lasers (Amalgamation "Polyaron");
- communication hardware, facsimile hardware, newspaper and image transmission appliances, meteo-and photo data transmission appliances (Lviv telegraph manufacturers);
- medical radioelectronics hardware (EKG, SEKGs, defibrillating appliances)(Plant REMA);
- machining tools (Joint Stock company "Lviv machining tools plant", Joint Stock company "Almazinstrument");
- power transmission line insulators (Closed Joint Stock company "Lviv insulators plant" - the only high-output production of this type in Ukraine).
The sector of construction materials produces:
- ceramic tile and ceramic sanitary household appliances (Joint Stock Company "Lviv Ceramic Plant");
- roofing and heat insulation materials including foamed polystyrene (Joint Stock Company "Lviv Pokizol");
- claydite ("Yavorivs’ky Claydite Plant");
- construction glass (Joint Stock Company "Lviv Mekhsklozavod").
Also, the region possesses great capacities in production of:
- cement (Joint Stock company "Mykolaivcement");
- gypsum (Pustomutievs’ke Zavodoupravlenie).
The above-named products are exported mainly to CIS countries and enjoy a considerable demand in Ukraine.
Light industry of the Lviv region produces:
- ready-made clothes (Ukrainian-Swiss Joint Venture "VESNA", Joint Stock Company "GALLANT", Ukrainian-Belgium Join Venture "UKON", Joint Stock Company "Mayak", Joint Stock Company "Stritex", Joint-Stock Company "Zorya" - all of them export their products to both CIS and European countries);
- hosiery ("VESTA", Joint Stock Company "Sokalska panchishna fabrica", Joint Stock Company "Shans", Joint Stock Company "Promin’");
- knitted fabric and textile-and-haberdashery products ("Promin’", Joint-Stock Company "Yunist’", Joint Stock Company "Kalina");
- European quality leather products (Joint Stock Company "ShP Svitanok" - 50% of its products are exported to Italian footwear plants);
- footwear (Joint Stock Company LVVTP Progress", Joint Stock Companies "ILONA", "Malva", "Oliko").
CJSC "Clothing Factory named after L. Ukrainka" is the only one in Ukraine to produce hand-made embroidery enjoying high demand both in Ukraine and in many foreign countries, especially those with large Ukrainian communities.
Food industry enterprises specialize in production of:
- milk and dairy products, milk-based children's foodstuffs (Lviv City Milk Plant, Lviv Milk Integrated Works, Firm "AGRO");
- fats, margarine, mayonnaise (Joint-Stock Company "Lviv Fat Factory");
- meat products, sausages (Manufacturers "Prikarpattya", "Bilaki");
- ethyl alcohol, alcoholic drinks, bakery yeast (Lviv Region Alcoholic Drinks Production Amalgamation, Lviv Wine Plant, Joint Stock Company "Enzym");
- coffee and coffee-based drinks (Joint Venture "GALKA", "VIDENSKA KAVA");
- beer (Joint Stock Company "Kolos");
- cigarettes (Joint Venture "R.J.Reynolds Tobacco-Lviv");
- ice-cream, dry ice, fruit jams (Joint-Stock Company Lviv Khladokombinat", Joint Venture "Trade-Impex").
The JSC "Svitoch" is one of the most popular and known producers of sweets, caramel, chocolate, and confectionery of all types.
AGROINDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Agriculture of the region possesses 1275.8 thousand hectares of land, which accounts for 3.1% of the total Ukrainian land resources. The portion of arable land is 67.0%, hayfields - 11.8%, pastures - 19.4%, perennial plants - 1.8%.
The major agricultural zones are the mountain-Carpathian zone (cattle-breeding), Polissya (meat and dairy cattle, flax), forest-steppe region (meat and dairy cattle, sugar beets), suburban region (meat and dairy cattle, poultry, vegetables).
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE
Extremely favorable geographical position of the Lviv region, i.e., crossing of important transport routes between Baltic countries and south-west Europe, dictated the development of transport facilities and construction. Six major railway roads and five highways cross the region. There is an airport capable of handling transport aircraft.
The Lviv railways system covers the territory of seven western regions of Ukraine, has 12 cross-points at the State border and is united with railways of Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, and Belarus.
The future construction of the European-standard 84km run over the Ukrainian-Poland border is planned. The project also envisages re-construction of the Lviv railway terminal, construction on International railway terminal and four-star hotel.
The Lviv region has a 278.2km-long border with Polish regions: Krosnenky, Peremyshls’ky, Zamosts’ky. Operational are the following control posts:
Automobile Transport:
Rava-Rus’ka (International);
Shegini-Medyka (International);
Krakivets-Korchova (Ukrainian- Polish)
Railway:
Rava-Rus’ka – Verkhrata (Ukrainian-Polish, passenger and cargo trains);
Mosttyska2 – Medyka (International (passenger and cargo trains));
Khyriv-Krostsenko (Ukrainian-Poland, passenger trains).
Two posts of regional character, Smylnytsya-Krostsenko and Varyazh-Usmezh, also operate. They are used by local population.
The Lviv Air Terminal services both passenger and transport airlines. International airlines connect Lviv with Russia, Middle East, Central and Western Europe, Canada and the USA, as well as with all major cities of Ukraine. A military base Stryya located at a distance of 40 km from Lviv carries out freight transportation by air.
Reconstruction and modernization of both terminals is planned in the near future. After the reconstruction their handling capacity will grow by 5 to 6 times.
The region has a developed pipeline system. Its territory is crossed by the 521km-long oil pipeline "Druzhba", laid in the early sixties.
Lviv operates 29 telephone exchanges, their installed capacity approximating to 170,000 subscribers.
Long-distance and international telecommunication services are provided by the "UTEL" telephone exchange based on AT&T digital equipment.
Nearly the whole of the region is covered by the mobile communications network operated by the Lviv division of the UMC (Ukrainian Mobile Communications) joint venture.
FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
The Lviv region actively participates in the International Association "Carpathian Euroregion" and closely co-operates with the neighboring regions of Poland, Slovenia, and Hungary.
Consulates of three foreign states, Republic of Poland, Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Russia Federation, function in Lviv.
In the present-day situation, development of inter-regional cooperation is of major importance for the Lviv region economy. Agreements for interregional cooperation have been concluded with Poland Chenstokhovske, Peremyshlske, and Zamostkskoe regions), Hungary (Baranya region), Russia (Vologda and Yekaterinburg regions), Belarus (Minsk region), and Argentina (Kordoba province).
The major export articles include alcoholic and soft drinks, clothing, buses, meat and foodstuffs, mineral fertilizers, petrochemicals, sugar, and motor loaders. The major import articles are mechanical and electrical equipment and devices, petrochemicals, paper and cardboard, and pharmaceuticals.
The main form of attracting foreign investment is establishment of joint ventures with foreign capital participation. Over 1,300 such enterprises have been created in the region with founders from 50 foreign countries.