Business and Economic
Industry. Most of the oblast's output (87.6 percent) is industrial. The main industries are the fuel industry (27.3 percent of the industrial output in 1986), which includes coal (19.2 percent), machine building and metalworking (24 percent), the chemical industry (14 percent), and ferrous metallurgy (12 percent). The energy for those industries is supplied by thermoelectric power plants in Shchastia, Siverskodonetsk, and Lysychansk. Coal mining is conducted by 9 consortia, which control 94 mines and 2.8 enrichment plants. The metallurgical industry imports iron ore from the Kryvyi Rih region for the manufacture of steel (in Komunarsk), ferrous alloys (Stakhanov), and tubing (Luhansk). The machine-building and metal-working industries produce transportation vehicles (particularly diesel locomotives in Luhansk), mining machinery (Krasnyi Luch), railway coaches (Stakhanov), and computers (Siverskodonetsk). The chemical industry includes a petroleum refinery in Lysychansk, a mineral fertilizers plant in Siverskodonetsk, an aniline dyes factory in Rubizhne, and a soda plant in Luhansk. The large building-materials industry produces approx half of the window glass in Ukraine as well as brick, silicate blocks, ceramic plates, and reinforced-concrete products. The main products of light industry are clothing, footwear, and fine fabrics.
Agriculture. In 1986 there were 169 collective and 152 state farms and 8 poultry factories in the oblast. Of the total 1,888,000 ha of farmland 77.2 percent was cultivated, 19.9 percent was pasture, and 1.6 percent was hayfield. Of the farmland 96,400 ha were irrigated. Slightly over half of the sown area (1,352,000 ha) was devoted to grain crops, such as winter wheat (10.7 percent), barley (16.4 percent), and corn (10.3 percent). Feed crops occupied 34.2 percent of the sown area. The main industrial crop was sunflower (10.4 percent). Approx 5 percent of the area was set aside for fruit and vegetable farming. Animal husbandry accounts for 64 percent of the oblast's agricultural output. Most of it consists of beef and dairy cattle farming; hogs, horses, sheep, goats, and poultry are also raised.
Transportation. In 1986 the railway network in the oblast had 1,192 km of track. The main lines crossing the oblast are the Luhansk-Kiev, Luhansk-Moscow, De-baltseve-Luhansk-Millerovo, Kharkiv-Volgograd, and Luhansk-Rostov-na-Donu. There were 5,600 km of highway, 5,300 km of which were paved. The major highways running through the oblast are the Luhansk-Kharkiv, Kharkiv-Rostov-na-Donu, and Luhansk-Donetske. There are two main airports, in Luhansk and Siverskodonetske. The Stavropol-Moscow and Soiuz gas pipelines and the Kuibysheve-Sloviansk and Groznyi-Lysychanske oil pipelines cross the oblast.
Encyclopedia of Ukraine, volume III (University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 1993)
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