KYIV, Apr. 6 (AP) – Ukraine’s industrial growth jumped 17.4 percent over the first three months of 2001 compared to the same period last year, with all sectors growing, officials said Friday.
The most successful sectors were the lumber and wood products industry with growth of 28.6 percent, light manufacturing with 27.4 percent, and the food industry with growth of 22.7 percent compared to 2000 figures, said Valery Lytvytsky, adviser to Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko.
The lowest growth of 0.1 percent was registered in energy sector, Lytvytsky said, according to the Interfax news agency.
Lytvytsky added that industrial growth was occurring on the backdrop of zero inflation, and predicted gross domestic product growth of up to 7 percent in January-March.
For 2000, Ukraine posted industrial growth of 12.4 percent, much higher than the 4.3 percent rise in 1999, the first increase in 10 years.
Ukraine’s economy suffered severe decline after independence in 1991, but positive economic indicators have begun to emerge since the appointment of Yushchenko’s reformist government in late 1999.
