Background: Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state Kyivan Rus which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state the Cossack Hetmanate was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917 Ukraine was able to achieve a short-lived period of independence (1917-20) but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform privatization and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest 'Orange Revolution' in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006. An early legislative election brought on by a political crisis in the spring of 2007 saw Yuliya TYMOSHENKO as head of an 'Orange' coalition installed as a new prime minister in December 2007. Viktor YANUKOVUYCH was elected president in a February 2010 run-off election that observers assessed as meeting most international standards. The following month Ukraine's parliament the Rada approved a vote of no-confidence prompting Yuliya TYMOSHENKO to resign from her post as prime minister. In October 2012 Ukraine held Rada elections widely criticized by Western observers as flawed due to use of government resources to favor ruling party candidates interference with media access and harassment of opposition candidates.

Geographic coordinates: 49 00 N 32 00 E

Area
Rank: 46
Land: 579,330 km²
Water: 24,220 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries
Border countries: (7) Belarus 891 km; Hungary 103 km; Moldova 940 km; Poland 428 km; Romania (south) 176 km; Romania (southwest) 362 km; Russia 1576 km; Slovakia 90 km

Coastline: 2,782 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 m or to the depth of exploitation

Climate: temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed highest in west and north lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country hot in the south

Terrain: most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians) and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Elevation
Extremes highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

Natural resources: iron ore coal manganese natural gas oil salt sulfur graphite titanium magnesium kaolin nickel mercury timber arable land

Land use
Permanent crops: 1.48%
Other: 44.67% (2011)

Irrigated land: 21,750 km² (2010)

Total renewable water resources: 139.6 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe

Population: 44,573,205 (July 2013 est.)
Rank: 31
Growth rate: -0.63% (2013 est.)
Growth rate rank: 228
Below poverty line: 24.1% (2010)

Nationality
Adjective: Ukrainian

Ethnic groups: Ukrainian 77.8% Russian 17.3% Belarusian 0.6% Moldovan 0.5% Crimean Tatar 0.5% Bulgarian 0.4% Hungarian 0.3% Romanian 0.3% Polish 0.3% Jewish 0.2% other 1.8% (2001 census)

Languages: Ukrainian (official) 67% Russian 24% other (includes small Romanian- Polish- and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 9%

Religions: Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate 50.4% Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 26.1% Ukrainian Greek Catholic 8% Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 7.2% Roman Catholic 2.2% Protestant 2.2% Jewish 0.6% other 3.2% (2006 est.)

Age structure
15-24 years: 12.1% (male 2,758,374/female 2,645,879)
25-54 years: 45% (male 9,693,346/female 10,355,403)
55-64 years: 13.5% (male 2,573,283/female 3,426,840)
65 years and over: 15.6% (male 2,269,784/female 4,665,670) (2013 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 20.5 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 21.4 %
Potential support ratio: 4.7 (2013)

Median age
Male: 37.1 years
Female: 43.5 years (2013 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.63% (2013 est.)
Rank: 228

Birth rate: 9.52 births/1000 population (2013 est.)
Rank: 202

Death rate: 15.75 deaths/1000 population (2013 est.)
Rank: 2

Net migration rate: -0.07 migrant(s)/1000 population (2013 est.)
Rank: 113

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: -0.26% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: KYIV (capital) 2.779 million; Kharkiv 1.455 million; Dnipropetrovsk 1.013 million; Odesa 1.009 million; Donetsk 971,000 (2009)

Environment
Current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.75 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.85 male(s)/female (2013 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 23.1

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 155
Male: 10.31 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 6.03 deaths/1000 live births (2013 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 158
Male: 63.41 years
Female: 74.8 years (2013 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.29 children born/woman (2013 est.)
Rank: 215

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 66.7% (2007)

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 3.52 physicians/1000 population (2011)

Hospital bed density: 8.7 beds/1000 population (2009)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.1% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 45
People living with hivaids: 350,000 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 17
Deaths: 24,000 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 15

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 21.3% (2008)
Rank: 89

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 0.9% (2002)
Rank: 131

Education expenditures: 5.3% of GDP (2007)
Rank: 64

Literacy
Total population: 99.7%
Male: 99.8%
Female: 99.7% (2011 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 15 years
Female: 15 years (2011)

Country name
Conventional short form: Ukraine
Local long form: none
Local short form: Ukrayina
Former: Ukrainian National Republic Ukrainian State Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 50 26 N 30 31 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (oblasti singular - oblast') 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika) and 2 municipalities (mista singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy Chernihiv Chernivtsi Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol') Dnipropetrovs'k Donets'k Ivano-Frankivs'k Kharkiv Kherson Khmel'nyts'kyy Kirovohrad Kyiv** Kyiv Luhans'k L'viv Mykolayiv Odesa Poltava Rivne Sevastopol'** Sumy Ternopil' Vinnytsya Volyn' (Luts'k) Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod) Zaporizhzhya Zhytomyr

Independence: 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus) 1648 (establishment of Cossack Hetmanate)

National holiday: Independence Day 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918 the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919) is now celebrated as Unity Day

Constitution: several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996; amended 2004 2010 (2010)

Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Head of government: Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV (since 11 March 2010); First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy ARBUZOV (since 24 December 2012); Deputy Prime Ministers Yuriy BOYKO Kostyantyn HRYSHCHENKO Oleksandr VILKUL (all since 24 December 2012)
Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 17 January 2010 with runoff on 7 February 2010 (next to be held in October 2015)
Election results: Viktor YANUKOVYCH elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YANUKOVYCH 48.9% Yuliya TYMOSHENKO 45.5% other 5.6%

Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 50% of seats allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 5% or more of the national electoral vote and 50% to members elected in single mandate districts; members serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 28 October 2012 (next to be held fall 2017)
Election results: percent of vote by party - Party of Regions 30% Batkivshchyna 25.5% UDAR 14% CPU 13.2% Svoboda 10.4% other parties 6.9%; seats by party - Party of Regions 185 Batkivshchyna 101 UDAR 40 Svoboda 37 CPU 32 United Center 3 People's Party 2 Radical 1 Union 1 independents 43 vacant 5; composition as of mid-April 2013 - Party of Regions 207 Batkivshchyna 95 UDAR 42 Svoboda 36 CPU 32 independents 32 vacant 6

Judicial branch
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges proposed by the Supreme Council of Justice or SCJ (a 20-member independent body of judicial officials and other appointees) and appointed by presidential decree; judges initially appointed for 5 years and if approved by the SCJ serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president by the SCU and by the Verkhovna Rada; justices appointed for 9-year non-renewable terms
Subordinate courts: specialized high courts; Courts of Cassation; Courts of Appeal; regional district city and town courts

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: Australia Group BSEC CBSS (observer) CD CE CEI CICA (observer) CIS (participating member has not signed the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings) EAEC (observer) EAPC EBRD FAO GCTU GUAM IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (national committees) ICRM IDA IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITU ITUC (NGOs) LAIA (observer) MIGA MONUSCO NAM (observer) NSG OAS (observer) OIF (observer) OPCW OSCE PCA PFP SELEC (observer) UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIL UNMISS UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chancery: 3,350 M Street NW Washington DC 20,007
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 349-2,920
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817
In the us consulate general: Chicago New York San Francisco
From the us embassy: 4 Igor Sikorsky Street 4,112 Kyiv
From the us mailing address: 5,850 Kyiv Place Washington DC 20,521-5,850
From the us telephone: [380] (44) 521-5,000
From the us FAX: [380] (44) 521-5,155

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky

National symbols: trident (tryzub)

National anthem
Lyrics and music: Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI

Economy overview: After Russia the Ukrainian republic was the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat milk grain and vegetables to other republics. Likewise its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Shortly after independence in August 1991 the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its annual oil and natural gas requirements and 100% of its nuclear fuel needs. After a two-week dispute that saw gas supplies cutoff to Europe Ukraine agreed to 10-year gas supply and transit contracts with Russia in January 2009 that brought gas prices to 'world' levels. The strict terms of the contracts have further hobbled Ukraine's cash-strapped state gas company Naftohaz. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms to foster economic growth. Ukrainian Government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy but more improvements are needed including fighting corruption developing capital markets and improving the legislative framework. Ukraine's economy was buoyant despite political turmoil between the prime minister and president until mid-2008. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2006-07 fueled by high global prices for steel - Ukraine's top export - and by strong domestic consumption spurred by rising pensions and wages. A drop in steel prices and Ukraine's exposure to the global financial crisis due to aggressive foreign borrowing lowered growth in 2008. Ukraine reached an agreement with the IMF for a $16.4 billion Stand-By Arrangement in November 2008 to deal with the economic crisis but the program quickly stalled due to the Ukrainian Government's lack of progress in implementing reforms. The economy contracted nearly 15% in 2009 among the worst economic performances in the world. In April 2010 Ukraine negotiated a price discount on Russian gas imports in exchange for extending Russia's lease on its naval base in Crimea. In August 2010 Ukraine under the YANUKOVYCH Administration reached a new agreement with the IMF for a $15.1 billion Stand-By Agreement. Economic growth resumed in 2010 and 2011 buoyed by exports. After initial disbursements the IMF program stalled in early 2011 due to the Ukrainian Government's lack of progress in implementing key gas sector reforms namely gas tariff increases. Economic growth slowed in the second half of 2012 with Ukraine finishing the year in technical recession following two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 40

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 175

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 137

Gross national saving:
Rank: 125

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 19.4%
Investment in fixed capital: 18.9%
Investment in inventories: -0.6%
Exports of goods and services: 50.9%
Imports of goods and services: -59.3%: (2012 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 31.4%
Services: 59.1%: (2012 est.)

Agriculture products: grain sugar beets sunflower seeds vegetables; beef milk

Industries: coal electric power ferrous and nonferrous metals machinery and transport equipment chemicals food processing

Industrial production growth rate: -2.1% (2012 est.)
Rank: 158

Labor force: 22.11 million (2012 est.)
Rank: 30
By occupation industry: 26%
By occupation services: 68.4%
Note: (2012)

Unemployment rate: 7.9% (2011 est.)
Rank: 82

Population below poverty line: 24.1% (2010)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 22.5% (2011 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 29 (1999)
Rank: 120

Budget
Expenditures: $63.37 billion
Surplus or deficit: -4.4% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 154

Taxes and other revenues: 32.1% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 85

Public debt: 36.3% of GDP (2011 est.)
Rank: 99

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 8% (2011 est.)
Rank: 10

Central bank discount rate: 11.97% (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 19

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 15.95% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 36

Stock of narrow money: $38.93 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 53

Stock of broad money: $85.33 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 55

Stock of domestic credit: $121 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 48

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 54

Current account balance: $-10.25 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 179

Exports: $69.42 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 51
Commodities: ferrous and nonferrous metals fuel and petroleum products chemicals machinery and transport equipment food products
Partners: Russia 25.6% Turkey 5.4% Egypt 4.2% (2012)

Imports: $85.67 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 36
Commodities: energy machinery and equipment chemicals
Partners: Russia 32.4% China 9.3% Germany 8% Belarus 6% Poland 4.2% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $31.79 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 56

Debt external: $134.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 35

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $50.33 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 52

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $6.898 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 57

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 198.1 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Production rank: 22
Consumption: 175.3 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Consumption rank: 21
Exports: 3.852 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 32
Imports: 1.909 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 54
Installed generating capacity: 54.88 million kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 18
Generation sources fossil fuels: 64.1% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 124
Generation sources nuclear: 25.2% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 3
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 9.9% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 114
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0.1% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 98

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 80,400 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 52
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 197
Crude oil imports: 155,300 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 38
Crude oil proven reserves: 395 million bbl (1 January 2013 es)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 53

Refined petroleum
Products production: 262,300 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 49
Products consumption: 320,600 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 39
Products exports: 80,980 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 50
Products imports: 126,500 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 43

Natural gas
Production: 19.8 billion m³ (2011 est.)
Production rank: 33
Consumption: 56.2 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 15
Exports: 2.6 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 43
Imports: 44.8 billion m³ (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 11
Proven reserves: 1.104 trillion m³ (1 January 2013 es)
Proven reserves rank: 26

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 304.4 million Mt (2011 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 22

Telephones
Main lines in use: 12.182 million (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 19
Mobile cellular: 59.344 million (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 22

Telephone system
Domestic: at independence in December 1991 Ukraine inherited a telephone system that was antiquated inefficient and in disrepair; more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied; telephone density is rising and the domestic trunk system is being improved; about one-third of Ukraine's networks are digital and a majority of regional centers now have digital switching stations; improvements in local networks and local exchanges continue to lag; the mobile-cellular telephone system's expansion has slowed largely due to saturation of the market which has reached 125 mobile phones per 100 people
International: country code - 380; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and 3 Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by an unknown number of earth stations in the Intelsat Inmarsat and Intersputnik satellite systems (2010)

Broadcast media: Ukraine's state-controlled nationwide TV broadcast channel (UT1) and a number of privately owned TV networks provide basic TV coverage; multi-channel cable and satellite TV services are available; Russian television broadcasts have a small audience nationwide but larger audiences in the eastern and southern regions; Ukraine's radio broadcast market a mix of independent and state-owned networks is comprised of some 300 stations (2007)

Internet
Country code: .ua
Hosts: 2.173 million (2012)
Hosts rank: 37
Users: 7.77 million (2009)
Users rank: 38

Military expenditures: 1.6% of GDP (2012)
Rank: 91

Military service age and obligation: 18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation is 12 months for Army and Air Force 18 months for Navy (2012)

Airports: 187 (2013)
Rank: 31
With paved runways over 3047 m: 13
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 42
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 22
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 28 (2013)
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways: 69 (2013)

Heliports: 9 (2013)

Pipelines: gas 36,720 km; oil 4,514 km; refined products 4,363 km (2013)

Railways
Rank: 12
Broad gauge: 21,619 km 1.524-m gauge (10,242 km electrified) (2012)

Roadways
Rank: 29
Paved: 166,095 km (includes 17 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 3,599 km (2012)

Waterways: 1672 km (most on Dnieper River) (2012)
Rank: 47

Merchant marine
Rank: 43
By type: bulk carrier 3 cargo 98 chemical tanker 1 passenger 6 passenger/cargo 5 petroleum tanker 8 refrigerated cargo 11 specialized tanker 2
Registered in other countries: 172 (Belize 6 Cambodia 35 Comoros 10 Cyprus 3 Dominica 1 Georgia 10 Liberia 10 Malta 29 Marshall Islands 1 Moldova 14 Mongolia 1 Panama 8 Russia 12 Saint Kitts and Nevis 8 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 12 Sierra Leone 5 Slovakia 2 unknown 5) (2010)

Ports and terminals: Feodosiya (Theodosia) Illichivsk Mariupol' Mykolayiv Odesa Yuzhnyy

Disputes international: 1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains unratified due to unresolved financial claims stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete with preparations for demarcation underway; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region which remains under the auspices of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-mandated peacekeeping mission comprised of Moldovan Transnistrian Russian and Ukrainian troops; the ICJ ruled largely in favor of Romania in its dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary delimitation; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa Latin America and Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF