Mode	Comments
Air	Luhansk can be reached by internal flights from Kiev and other cities within Ukraine.
Road	Luhansk is reached by main roads in its section of Ukraine.  See distance table below.  These distances are based on main roads wherever possible.   For distances to other cities in Ukraine, compute the distances through Kiev.
Train	Trains are good and frequent between Kiev and Kharkiv.   The most popular trains for business travel leave each city about 10 p.m. and arrives in the other about 7:00 am.

Road distances from Lugansk to:

City	Oblast	Kilometers	Miles
Cherkasy	Cherkasy	733	455
Chernihiv	Chernihiv	907	563
Dnepropetrovsk	Dnepropetrovsk	411	255
Donetsk	Donetsk	148	92
Kharkiv	Kharkiv	331	206
Kherson	Kherson	720	447
Kiev	Kiev	905	562
Kirovograd	Kirovograd	658	409
Melitopol	Zaporizhia	458	284
Mykolaiv	Mykolaiv	786	488
Odessa	Odessa	919	571
Poltava	Poltava	482	300
Simferopol	Crimea	649	403
Sumy	Sumy	516	320
Zaporizhia	Zaporizhia	366	227

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Geographic Information

Territory 26,700 sq. km
Population 2 ,720,000

The Lugansk region's was created as administrative economic territorial unit of Ukraine in June 1938. The region is located in the southwestern part of Ukraine in the basin of the middle Seversky Donets on the ways from Donbas to Russia.

The region's territory stretches for 250km from south to north and 190km from west to east. The region's borders coincide with the Ukrainian frontiers in the north, east and south, and thus it is in the immediate neighborhood of Russia.

As to population, which makes 5.6% of that of Ukraine, the Lugansk region's occupies the fourth place among the regions of Ukraine. It belongs to the regions with high population density, the average being 102.7 people per sq.m.

Demographically men make up 45% of the population and women 53.5%; young people to 28 years old make up 1,082,400, people above the ablebodied age 659,900, the work capable ones 1,613,700, pensioners 855,100 persons. The region's towns and settlements are populated with 87%, villages with 13% of people. The region's population includes 104 nationalities and peoples, mainly Ukrainians (54.8%) and Russians (41.7%).

Lugansk is the administrative Centre of the region.

In administrative respects the region's is divided into 18 rural districts, and includes 37 cities and towns, including 14 cities of regional subordination and 23 towns of district subordination, and 109 large rural settlements. back to top

Agriculture

The agroindustrial complex of the region includes 356 farms with different forms of ownership: 99% of kolkhozes (collective farms) which have been turned into collective agricultural enterprises, 83% of privatized sovkhozes (state farms), agrofirms, agrarian share associations, integrated structures of agricultural producers and those processing agriculture products; the specific weight of private farms also increases. They possess 1,921,400 ha or 4.8% of lands in Ukraine, including arable lands of 1,402,300 ha, irrigated lands 92,900 ha, and pastures 430,100 ha.

Plant growing makes up 50.8% and cattle breeding 49.2% in the structure of the region's agriculture. The long vegetative period, chernozems, and arable lands in the northern part create favorable conditions for agriculture specializing in cereals (mostly winter wheat and maize) and oil bearing (sunflower) crops. Gardening and cattle breeding are also developed. But because of its dry climate the region needs reliable systems and methods of irrigation.

Dairy and beef cattle breeding, poultry, and sheep breeding prevail in animal breeding. Bee and rabbit breeding as well as fishing are in the process of development. back to top

Transport and Communications

Lugansk is a great industrial Centre, and an important transport junction. It is crossed by railway, motor and air routes from the west to the south of Ukraine, and to the northern, central and southern region of Russia. Production of Lugansk's enterprises can be delivered in short terms to Kyiv, Moscow, Rostov, Belgorod, Voronezh, and ports of the Azov and Black Seas. The local airport may be turned into an airport of international class with the help of investments. It has steady relations, including economic relations, with their foreign sister cities: Lyublin (Poland), Cardiff (Great Brotain), Pernik (Bulgaria), Saint-Etienne (France), etc.

The advantageous geographical position of the region with its rich and diverse natural resources, multi branch industry with considerable powers, the developed network of transport communications, the proximity of raw material sources and sales markets, high population density and availability of highly skilled specialists contribute to the rich potential for its steady and all round development. back to top

Industry

Owing to its essential economic potential the region's ranks among the most industrialized regions of Ukraine. The region's industry is distinguished by its multi-branch character, while the modern industrial branches at different stages are of local, interregional and international importance.

As to industrial production output, the region occupies 4th place in Ukraine. The most developed industries of the region are as follows: the fuel industry whose production makes up 28% of the region's industrial volume; ferrous metallurgy 19.2%, chemical and petro chemical 12.2%, and machine building and metal working 12.8%. The less developed branches are represented by construction materials 2.5%, light industry 0.8%, forestry, woodworking and pulp and paper industries 1.3%, and the food industry 7.0%.

The basis of the commodity production complex is composed of 415 large enterprises (including the production units) of various branches and forms of ownership; besides, there are 600 secondary processing shops at agricultural enterprises (mills, peeling mills, oil mills, bakeries, canning and fruit and vegetable shops, slaughter houses, and sausage shops).

As to the production of consumer goods the region occupies 7th place in Ukraine and the last place by calculation per capita. The latter makes it necessary to decide, in the first place, the problems of saturation of the internal market with high quality consumer goods at the expense of development of the home production and profitable exchange of commodities with the regions of Ukraine, the CIS, and foreign countries.

Paid services are rendered to the population in the cities and districts of the region's by above 2,400 enterprises, 76.6% of the services are rendered by enterprises of state ownership. back to top

Foreign Economic Relations
TGeopolitical position of the region and its developed system of transport, communications, and relations permit the region to be beneficially integrated into the system of international economic relations.

The commodity structure of exports consists mainly of ferrous metals (26.7%), mineral fuel (10.5%), organic chemical compounds (9.6%), fertilizers (9.8%), articles of ferrous metals (8.6%), and clothes (with the exception of jersey) (6.5%).

Besides, the region's enterprises and organizations export services; the export structure includes transport services (75.6%), construction (8.3%), engineering (5%) services including those connected with mounting and repair (4.7%).

The region's imports include gas, oil, wood, semi finished items for allied enterprises, as well as a number of consumers goods. back to top