Rocky Government
Ukraine's government, still in its infancy, often finds it difficult to agree on much of anything. Since its independence, Ukrainian leadership has found themselves often accused of corruption and illegal activity. After being under Russian or Soviet control for so long, some find themselves wanting to embrace the Russian language and culture as part of their heritage, while others want to show complete loyalty and national pride in the newly independent Ukraine. Such differences are abundantly clear in Parliament sessions, as can be seen in this video retrieved from YouTube.com.
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Oil Production vs.Oil Consumption
Record:
Oil Production: 81.89 thousand bbl/day (2011 est.)
Oil Consumption: 300.00 thousand bbl/day (2011 est.)
Ukraine produces and consumers a very small amount of oil compared to the rest of the world. This is because they rely heavily on nuclear power. As of 2010, about half of the electric power supply was generated by nuclear power, 45% by conventional thermal sources, only 7% by hydro-power, and minimal amounts by wind generation. Ukraine is only able to domestically produce 30% of its natural gas consumption. It gets the rest from Russia. Russia exports to many Eastern European countries, which means that geographically Ukraine is a natural gas transit country. However, Russia and Ukraine do not always agree on supply, price, and debt. This has resulted in interruptions to the gas flow with the most recent occurrence in 2009. Because Ukraine consumers over three times as much oil as it produces, it relies mostly on Russia for oil import as well. Fortunately, shale gas deposits were recently discovered within Ukrainian borders. The country is currently working with Shell and they have plans to increase domestic consumption and even begin exports to Western Europe by 2020.
How much economic improvement can be made from this shale gas discovery?
When will Ukraine become less dependent on Russia?
Oil Production: 81.89 thousand bbl/day (2011 est.)
Oil Consumption: 300.00 thousand bbl/day (2011 est.)
Ukraine produces and consumers a very small amount of oil compared to the rest of the world. This is because they rely heavily on nuclear power. As of 2010, about half of the electric power supply was generated by nuclear power, 45% by conventional thermal sources, only 7% by hydro-power, and minimal amounts by wind generation. Ukraine is only able to domestically produce 30% of its natural gas consumption. It gets the rest from Russia. Russia exports to many Eastern European countries, which means that geographically Ukraine is a natural gas transit country. However, Russia and Ukraine do not always agree on supply, price, and debt. This has resulted in interruptions to the gas flow with the most recent occurrence in 2009. Because Ukraine consumers over three times as much oil as it produces, it relies mostly on Russia for oil import as well. Fortunately, shale gas deposits were recently discovered within Ukrainian borders. The country is currently working with Shell and they have plans to increase domestic consumption and even begin exports to Western Europe by 2020.
How much economic improvement can be made from this shale gas discovery?
When will Ukraine become less dependent on Russia?
Status of Women
Since declaring independence in 1991, Ukraine has been working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and European Union (EU) to support the advancement of gender equality. According to the United Nations website, in September 2000, “the largest-ever gathering of world leaders ushered in the new millennium by adopting the Millennium Declaration.” Ukraine was one of the many countries to take on the responsibility of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) until 2015. One of these goals is to ensure gender equality. Specifically, Ukraine is making an effort to “achieve a ratio of at least 30:70 for either genders in legislative and executive offices” and “halve the gap in incomes between men and women” by 2015 (“Ukrainian MDGs”, 2010). There are many projects and initiative underway in order to reach these goals.
Women in Politics
As of September 2012, women occupied a meager 36 seats of the 450 seats of Ukraine’s supreme legislature, Verkhovna Rada. That is equivalent to only 8%, which means that Ukraine is still a far cry from its 30:70 gender ratio goal. Following is chart from the UNPD website, illustrating the ratio of women candidates in the 2012 elections. The chart also compares the gender ratio of parliaments across the globe and Ukraine falls very short. The chart goes as far as to project that “the maximum possible post-election representation of women in the parliament” is 13.3%, meaning by 2028 only 32% of parliament might be made up of female representatives. However, the chart also states that mixed electoral system could leave only 6.2% of women in the convocation. If such a trend continues it would be possible that by 2028 there would no women in Verkhovna Rada ("Millennium development goal," 2012).
Employment Opportunity
According to UNICEF statistics, Ukrainian men and women receive comparable education with nearly 100% of both genders completing high school and enrolling in secondary education. Almost 100% of population is literate ("Unicef," 2010). However, there is still a gap in job opportunity and wages earned by males and females. While Ukraine has laws against employment discrimination, however many employers are using advertisements which indicate a desired gender of employee, in violation of these laws. Several studies have found that an estimated 60% of employment vacancy advertisements were designed for “only for men” and the rest were for both sexes (Boroda, Romanuyk, Sereda & Tartarevskiy, 2008). According to the Ministry of Labor, 80% of the downsized employees between 1990 and 1998 were female.
Employment Opportunity
According to UNICEF statistics, Ukrainian men and women receive comparable education with nearly 100% of both genders completing high school and enrolling in secondary education. Almost 100% of population is literate ("Unicef," 2010). However, there is still a gap in job opportunity and wages earned by males and females. While Ukraine has laws against employment discrimination, however many employers are using advertisements which indicate a desired gender of employee, in violation of these laws. Several studies have found that an estimated 60% of employment vacancy advertisements were designed for “only for men” and the rest were for both sexes (Boroda, Romanuyk, Sereda & Tartarevskiy, 2008). According to the Ministry of Labor, 80% of the downsized employees between 1990 and 1998 were female.
Domestic Violence
According to a UNDP report, in 2001, Ukraine was the first country in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to create legislation that addresses domestic violence, known as the Law of Ukraine “On Preventing Violence in the Family”. However, this piece of legislation is chocked full of loop holes and conflicts of laws. For this reason, the Equal Opportunities and Women’s Rights in Ukraine Programme (EOWR) is working to strengthen legislation for the prevention of violence. The EOWR has conducted a survey to distinguish the prevalence of domestic violence in Ukraine. The results indicate that 44% of the population experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives; 70% of the abusers were men; 33% of women became victims of domestic violence in adulthood, while 27% faced it in childhood. Unfortunately, 75% of victims do not seek help (Klyuchar, 2012).
Human Trafficking
According to a 2009 International Organization for Migration (IOM) report, the majority of human trafficking victims are women and the majority of human trafficking is sexual in nature. Between 2007 and 2009, 1928 females were victims of human trafficking; 1267 of those were victims of sexual trafficking. During the same time frame only 549 males were victims of human trafficking; 519 of those were victims of labor trafficking. Between January 2000 and September 2009, only 3% of victims were trafficked within Ukraine, while almost 60% were trafficked to Russia or other countries.
Human Trafficking
According to a 2009 International Organization for Migration (IOM) report, the majority of human trafficking victims are women and the majority of human trafficking is sexual in nature. Between 2007 and 2009, 1928 females were victims of human trafficking; 1267 of those were victims of sexual trafficking. During the same time frame only 549 males were victims of human trafficking; 519 of those were victims of labor trafficking. Between January 2000 and September 2009, only 3% of victims were trafficked within Ukraine, while almost 60% were trafficked to Russia or other countries.