Chernivtsi, Ukraine

🇺🇦 Chernivtsi is a city in western Ukraine. It is situated on the upper course of the Prut River, and is the administrative centre of Chernivtsi Oblast, which includes the Ukrainian part of Bukovina. Chernivtsi is also the administrative centre of Chernivtsi Raion and hosts the administration of the Chernivtsi urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.

Chernivtsi is viewed as one of Western Ukraine's main cultural centers. The city is also considered one of Ukraine's important educational and architectural sites. Inhabited by Early Slavic tribes since the 2nd or 5th century AD, the area in which present-day Chernivtsi is located became part of Kievan Rus' in the 9th - 11th century. Chernivtsi was also part, for almost four centuries, of the Principality of Moldavia. Located on the border with Poland, the city flourished enjoying a high degree of autonomy. The city, along with the rest of Moldavia, came under Turkish control in 1538, and was later devastated by the Russo-Turkish War. Russians and Swedes pillaged the city, which by 1762 had shrunk to a settlement of hardly 200 wooden buildings and about a thousand inhabitants. After passing to Austria in 1775, the city's population, economy and architectural landscape grew exponentially. Historically a cosmopolitan community, Chernivtsi was once dubbed "Little Vienna" and "Jerusalem upon the Prut". The city is a major regional rail and road transportation hub, also housing an international airport.

Economy The total number of economic entities in the city is 25.4 thousand. On 1 January 2006, there were 6,739 legal entities – business entities and almost 19,000 private entrepreneurs – individuals, primarily represented by small enterprises. The volume of sales and services provided to small enterprises is UAH 578 million or 22% of the total Chernivtsi volumes. The share of the city's tax revenues is almost 35%. The most attractive for small businesses are trade and services, restaurant and tourist business.

Wholesale and retail trade, industry and construction are successfully developing in Chernivtsi. In 2005, wholesale and retail sales accounted for over 64%, industry – 23%, construction – 6%, real estate operations – 2.3%, transport and communications – more than 2%.

Economy: Industry In the industrial sector of the city, there are 10 branches, which have 70 large enterprises with a total number of employees over 20 thousand people or 13% of the working population of the city. The annual volume of industrial production at these enterprises is about 775 million UAH. The share of city wide tax revenues to the budgets of all levels of the industry is 21%. Defining industries in the city's industry are food, light, mechanical engineering and woodworking. Defining industries in the city's industry are food, light, mechanical engineering and woodworking. Food processing companies produce sugar, bakery products, alcohol, oil, meat and milk, fruits, vegetables and other products. In the light industry, the production of garments, knitwear, hosiery, rubber and leather footwear and textiles prevails. Mechanical engineering is represented by the production of oil and gas processing equipment and agricultural machinery. The timber industry is dominated by the production of lumber, furniture, joinery and other wood products.

Trade and services In 2005, there were 1,922 trade enterprises, 609 restaurants, 892 services in the city. There are 22 markets and micro-markets in the city. 10 million UAH are invested annually in their construction, reconstruction, improvement of trade conditions and creation of facilities for buyers. Chernivtsi City Shopping Complex, "Kalinivskiy Rynok" Municipal Enterprise is a modern multidisciplinary enterprise with powerful infrastructure. The average daily number of market visitors is 50,000 people, served by 9,100 entrepreneurs. The volume of services in 2005 amounted to almost UAH 23 million, more than UAH 18 million was paid into the city budget, or nearly 10% of the total revenues.