Transcript Specializáció és koncentráció mérése

East European countries
outside Russia
dr. Jeney László
Senior lecturer
[email protected]
Economic Geography
I. International Business bachelor study programme (BA)
Autumn term 2015/2016.
CUB Department of Economic Geography and Futures Studies
State of economic
development of Ukraine among
the post-Soviet countries
GDP per capita, PPP in the post-Soviet countries, 2010
Source of data: Worldbank
25000
15000
East European countries
Other successor countires
10000
5000
yz
Ky
rg
ist
an
Ta
jik
Re
pu
bl
ic
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do
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M
an
ek
ist
ia
Uz
b
rg
Ge
o
m
en
ia
Ar
e
ai
n
Uk
r
an
st
en
i
m
ai
ja
n
Tu
rk
er
b
Az
kh
st
an
s
Ka
za
la
ru
Be
vi
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th
ua
ni
a
n
tio
Fe
de
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ia
n
Es
to
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ia
0
Ru
ss
current international $
20000
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Strong economic ties to Russia
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Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia
SU times: countries were tied closely together
After transition: prefer greater independence
Old connections hard to break
– Eastern UA: most important iron and steelmaking
region  industries depend on: import oil and natural
gas (mainly from Russia)  85% energy needs
– BY: heavy industry  50% of trade with Russia

New connections difficult to form
– SU: developed heavy industry  equipment was not
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kept up to date
Territory of today’s Ukraine in the
18th–19th centuries
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Territories annexed to Ukraine
Ukraine, the BreadBasket of Russia
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Chernozyom (black) soil,
dry continental climate
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Heavy industrial
centre
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Best quality
– Black coal: Great Britain
(Wales) and Donetsk Basin
(East Ukraine)
– Iron ore: Sweeden (Kiruna)
and Krivoj Rog (East Ukraine)
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Donetsk Basin (East
Ukraine): the Craddle of
Russian Heavy Industry
(German settlers invited)
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HOLODOMOR (genocide) 1931 –
1933 Ukraine (USSR) death toll ~
7 million Ukrainian civilians
Main supplier of food
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Till 1970’s: belonged to the growth poles of the SU
– Main supplier of food and heavy industrial centre
– Share in the SU: 18,5% of population, 26% of coal production, 36% of
iron industry
– Heavy industry: 80% of industrial employment, 90% of investments,
70% of production
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Conservation of bad economic structure after transition
– Role of heavy industry, agriculture remained
– Critical dependency of oil and natural gas supply (from Russia,
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan)
– Soviet connections are hard to break, out-of-date firms are not
competitive
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Economic lagging
– Per capita GDP, 1990: 4700$ (94% of the SU average of the former SU)
 mid-position in the rank
– Living conditions (living area, salaries of employees, savings): also10
under the post-Soviet average
Ukrainian Employment
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Ukrainian employment
– Manpower: 22.3 mn
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But: unemployment rate: 7-8%
– Rate of skilled workers: 50%
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But: lack of management
– Sectoral composition:
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Employment: A: 25%, I: 20%, S: 55%
GDP: A: 17% I: 43% S: 40%
But: rising global prices for steel
– 2005: important changes
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Economic Geography of
Ukraine
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Regional development inequalities 2000
Regional
differences
– East: Russian
minority,
heavy
industry 
more
developed
– West:
Ukrainian
majority,
Hungarian,
Polish,
Romanian
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minority
The vast majority of
nationalities in today’s Ukraine
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The vast majority of
nationalities in
today’s Ukraine
Russian speaking population from 10
to 90 %
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Mutual intelligibility and common vocabulary of
Ukrainian language compared to:
Belarusian: 84 %
Polish 70 %
Serbian: 68 %
Croatian: 68 %
Slovak: 66 %
Russian: 62 %
Better state of Belorussian
economy
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Russian: main
trading partner
1991: Russian
– Belarusian
Federation
Cheap Russian
oil and natural
gas 
vulnerable
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Southern Caucasus
(Transcaucasus)
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Georgia, Armenia
– Mountainous (peaks above 5000 m)
– Georgia: East Orthodoxy, Armenia: autocephaly Christianity
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Azerbaijan
– More flat (Caspian Sea coast: areas below sea level)
– Muslim  stronger linkages towards Asia
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Historical states
– BC 100: historic Armenia: also East part of contemporary Turkey
(mount Ararat)
– From the AD 1000 to 1200: Georgia
– Turkish occupancy
– Russian rulers till 1991
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Economy of Southern Caucasus
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In SU times (till 1991)
– Georgia: 90% of SU’s tea and citrus fruits
– Armenia: fruits (mainly grapes)
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2000s: steadily improved
Economies suffered greatly from the ethnic conflicts
Increasing industrial and service sectors
– Black Sea: SE part of ex-’Soviet Riviera’ (Batumi, Suchumi)
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Developing trading relationship with US, EU and Iran
– Georgia: reduction dependency on Russia
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Ethnic conflicts in Caucasus
Region
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Economic and cultural
similarities: mountaineer identity
Ethnically and linguistically one
of the most complex area of the
World: Christians and Muslims
Russian control from mid 1800s
Soviets divided minorities
– Karbardians (have more in
common with Cherkessians), but
grouped together with Balkars
– Division of Ossethians
– Armenians in Azerbaijan
(Nagorno-Karabakh)  War
between 2 member states
(Armenia and Azerbaijan) during
the SU regime
– Azeri Exclave: Nakhichevan
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