kc,cipf/g/cv- ey- gh-2-Aq TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND CONSTRAINT S IN THE FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS : Chapter 9: UKRAINE AUTHOR : IHOR STEBELSKY THE NATIONAL COUNCI L FOR SOVIET AND EAST EUROPEAN RESEARC H TITLE VIII PROGRA M 1755 Massachusetts Avenue, N .W . Washington, D .C . 20036 PROJECT INFORMATION :* CONTRACTOR : San Diego State University PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR : Philip R. Pryde COUNCIL CONTRACT NUMBER : 807-04 DATE : August, 5, 199 4 COPYRIGHT INFORMATIO N Individual researchers retain the copyright on work products derived from research funded b y Council Contract. The Council and the U.S. Government have the right to duplicate written reports and other materials submitted under Council Contract and to distribute such copies within th e Council and U.S. Government for their own use, and to draw upon such reports and materials for their own studies; but the Council and U.S. Government do not have the right to distribute, o r make such reports and materials available, outside the Council or U.S. Government without th e written consent of the authors, except as may be required under the provisions of the Freedom o f Information Act 5 U.S.C. 552, or other applicable law . The work leading to this report was supported in part by contract funds provided by the National Council fo r Soviet and East European Research, made available by the U. S. Department of State under Title Vlll (the Soviet - Eastern European Research and Training Act of 1983). The analysis and interpretations contained in the report are those of the author. NCSEER NOTE This report is part of a Council-funded research project entitled Environmental Resources and Constraints in the Former Soviet Republics . Twenty one reports, listed below , resulting from this project will be distributed seriatim by the Council, and will collectivel y become the chapters of a book to be published in 1994 by Westview Press . Eighteen of the 2 1 (written by other authors) deal with the fifteen former republics, and three (written by Dr . Philip R. Pryde, the Principal Investigator) are summarizing reports . Chapter 1 : The Environmental Implications of Republic Sovereignty . (Pryde) Chapter 2: Russia - An Overview of the Federation . (Pryde) Chapter 3: European Russia . (Kochurov) Chapter 4: The Urals and Siberia . (Scherbakova & Monroe) Chapter 5: The Russian Far East. (Strand) Chapter 6: Estonia. (Soot) Chapter 7: Latvia. (Dreifelds) Chapter 8: Lithuania. (Kritkausky) Chapter 9: Ukraine. (Stebelsky) Chapter 10: Environmental Management in Ukraine. (Freeman) Chapter 11 : Belarus. (Cherp & Kovaleva ) Chapter 12: Moldova. (Dinu & Rowntree) Chapter 13: Georgia. (Richards) Chapter 14: Armenia. (Valesyan) Chapter 15: Azerbaijan. (Wolfson & Daniell) Chapter 16: Kazakhstan. (Smith) Chapter 17: Turkmenistan. (Micklin) Chapter 18: Uzbekistan. (Lubin) Chapter 19: Kyrgyzstan. (Braden) Chapter 20: Tajikistan. (Eicher ) Chapter 21: The View to the Future. (Pryde) Environmental Resources and Constraints in the Former Soviet Republic s Ukraine Ihor Stebelsky Executive Summary The following paragraphs summarize the main contents and conclusions of a chapter o n Ukraine, which has been prepared as part of a larger work on the environmental and economic-geographic situation in each of the former Soviet republics . The full study, edited b y Philip R. Pryde, will be published by Westview Press under the title "Environmenta l Resources and Constraints in the Former Soviet Republics . Funding assistance from the National Council for Soviet and East European Research is acknowledged with appreciation . In this chapter, the history, physical geography and ethnography of Ukraine is briefl y summarized, followed by a survey of its main economic resources and any significan t environmental constraints (climatic, geomorphologic, etc .) that affect the country' s development. The contemporary state of the development of industry and agriculture within th e republic is reviewed, with a focus on the environmental disruption that has resulted from thi s development . The current situation with regard to biotic preservation is also reviewed , including the establishment of nature reserves and parks, and the potential for ecotourism . The administrative structure for environmental management within the country is discussed in a separate chapter . Particular attention is directed to the problems that have resulted from the 198 6 Chernobyl explosion, as well as to problems resulting from agriculture, air pollution , contaminated water supplies, and deterioration of the Black and Azov seas . A map of th e environmentally polluted regions of Ukraine is included . The main conclusions of the chapter are that environmental problems in Ukraine ar e presently very serious, and that the poor state of the Ukrainian economy at present will no t permit adequate funding for environmental improvement . A resolution of current politica l differences with Russia, especially those involving Crimea, is urgently needed . However , Ukraine is rich in natural resources, and is well situated to become strategically integrated into the greater European economy if it can resolve its internal economic difficulties . Philip R. Pryde, June 6, 1994 1 Chapter 9 . UKRAINE Ihor Stebelsky Among the republics of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine had the second larges t population and economic importance ; and, in reflection of this, it is discussed in two chapters . Chapter 9 will discuss the physical and historical background of the country, and outline it s main environmental problems . Chapter 10 will examine the various laws and institutions that have been developed to address these environmental concerns, as well as some of thei r shortcomings . Located north of the Black Sea, Ukraine is the second largest country in area in Europe and, after Russia and Kazakhstan, the third largest in the former Soviet Union . In population , it was the second largest republic in the former USSR, but in Europe it ranks sixth afte r Russia, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and France . It shares a boundary with Russia to th e east and northeast, with Belarus to the north, and in the west, from north to south, lie Poland , Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova . As a former Soviet republic, Ukraine is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and has been a member of the Unite d Nations since 1945 . Since the demise of the USSR, it has transformed its role in the United Nations and other international bodies from reflecting Soviet policies to an independen t position. Its government is seeking peaceful resolutions to regional tensions at home an d abroad. Pressured by the reformist opposition, the presidency is pursuing economic reforms , but the process is hampered by a majority of the legislators and most of the administrators , carry-overs from the old regime who are reluctant to relinquish their former Communis t bureaucratic power . Ethnicity and Histor y Ukraine is inhabited mostly by ethnic Ukrainians . According to the January 12, 198 9 Soviet census, of the 51 .7 million inhabitants of Ukraine, 37 .4 million (72 .3 percent) wer e ethnically Ukrainian; the others comprised a large variety of minorities . Russians (11 .4 million, or 22.1 percent) were by far the largest minority group . Jews and Poles, formerl y much more numerous than at present, numbered about 0 .5 and 0.2 million (0 .9 and 0 .4 percent), respectively (Table 9 .1) . Conversely, 6.8 million Ukrainians lived in the rest of the former Soviet Union, mostly in Russia (4 .4 million), Kazakhstan (0 .9 million), Moldova (0 . 6 million), Belarus (0.3 million), and Central Asia . Ukrainians are also found in large numbers in Poland (presently about 400 thousand), Slovakia (about 150 thousand) and Romani a 1 Table 9 .1 Ethnic Minorities in Ukrain e Person s Percen t (thousands) Ukrainians 37,400 72 .3 4 Russians 11,400 22 .0 5 Jews 486 .3 .9 4 Belorussians 440 .0 .8 5 Moldavians 324 .5 .6 3 Bulgarians 233 .8 .4 5 Poles 219 .2 .4 3 Hungarians 163 .1 .3 2 Romanians 134 .8 .2 6 Greeks 98 .6 .19 Volga Tatars 86 .9 .17 Armenians 54 .2 .1 1 Gypsies 47 .9 .0 9 Crimean Tatars 46 .8 .0 9 Germans 37 .8 .0 7 Azeris 37 .0 .07 Gagauz 32 .0 .06 Other 461 .0 .9 0 TOTAL 51,704 100 .0 (over 250 thousand) . There are also about 755 thousand in Canada, probably 1 million or more in the U .S ., up to 400 thousand in Brazil, up to 250 thousand in Argentina, and smalle r numbers in western Europe and Australia . Minorities settled in Ukraine mostly as a result of a long history of various empire s implementing policies of colonization . The Polish-Lithuanian state (16th--17th centuries ) encouraged the acquisition of lands by Polish nobility and small gentry, and the employment o f skilled Jews (who had come from Germany, 13--14th centuries) . The Turkic-speaking Muslim Crimean Tatars originated from the Mongol-Tatar invasion (13th century), as did the Turk s who accepted Orthodox Christianity and became known as the Gagauz . Gypsies have long wandered through Ukraine . The thousands of Hungarians and Romanians are in general locate d along Ukraine's border with these two countries . Under the Russian Empire (18th--19th centuries), the southern steppes of Ukraine were colonized in part by Russian peasantry and military, as well as by invited German (mostl y Mennonite) colonists, and Bulgarian, Moldavian and Greek immigrants . Many of the German s had immigrated to the west by the late 1920s or were removed in 1941 to Kazakhstan and Siberia . During the Soviet period, Ukraine received a large influx of Russian specialists an d managers while losing its own to Russia and other republics . Along with the Russians also came Russian-speaking Belorussians, Volga Tatars, Azeris and others to fill managerial or worker positions in the industrial cities of Ukraine . Western Ukraine, when part of the inter - war Poland, had acquired a large influx of Polish colonists, most of whom were "patriated " after World War II to Poland .