KAUNAS COUNTY - Economy
Thriving industry and market services
Industry and market services are of great importance in the county?s economic structure. The share of value added produced from industry accounted for 23,2% in 2001, which is more than national average (20.5%). Market services accounted for 46,2% in 2001, which is same than national average (46.0%).
Kaunas has the largest number of farms of all Lithuanian counties. Agricultural land covers 56% of the county?s total area, with the main part of it being arable land. Grains, potatoes and industrial crops dominate the crop structure. The soil is fertile here and the yield of the grain and the potatoes above average. Livestock productivity, by contrast, is slightly below average.
Basic industrial goods produced in the county include mineral fertilisers (produced by joint stock companies ?Achema? in Jonava and ?Lifosa? in Kedainiai), textiles (produced by the largest manufacturing company in the county - ?Drobe?), and confectionery products (produced by ?Kraft Jakobs Suchard Lietuva?). Companies producing construction materials are also expanding in the county.
Retail sales at constant prices in 2002, as compared with 2000, increased by 13% (against 21% in the country as a whole). The sales area of shops in 2002 was 390000 m2, compared to 379400 m2 in 2001.
Turnover of services in 2001 compared with 2000 increased by 8.1 (. 18.3( of all services were provided in the county.
GDP per capita is an effective measure of economic performance, and GDP per capita in Kaunas county puts it in 3rd place in Lithuania and very close to the national average in 2001.
In the initial stage of privatisation almost three quarters of the state capital has been privatised. Furthermore, foreign direct investment has been increasing rapidly in the county, and between 1997 and 2002 the total amount invested here increased 2.5 times. A number of enterprises in Kaunas county have attracted significant amounts of foreign direct investment, e.g. ?Lifosa?, ?Kraft FoodsLietuva? and the beer producer ?Ragutis?. . ?Kraft FoodsLietuva? is one of the largest single industrial investments, formed in 1993 when the US company Kraft Foods International bought a state-owned joint stock confectionery enterprise. Luxembourg companies have invested in ?Ave-Matrox?.
Good roads and high car ownership
Situated in the centre of Lithuania, Kaunas county has one of the best transport networks in the country. Railways and highways stretch across the county to Vilnius, Riga (Latvia), Kaliningrad (Russia), and Poland. Two international highways cross the county. The Via Baltica connects Helsinki- Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw, while another road leads from Klaipeda through Kaunas, Vilnius and on to Minsk.
At the end of 2002 the length of roads was 11615 km. 88.3 ( of all roads are paved. The density of roads, at 1441 km per 1000 km 2 is the highest in the country.
The number of cars has been rapidly increasing, and between 1996 and 2000 went from 230 to 325 private cars per capita. In 2001, this number still increased to reach 307 private cars per 1 000 capita. One fifth of all cars in the country are registered in Kaunas county.
Kaunas airport has regular flights to many European cities, handles 2/3 of the cargo flowing through Lithuanian airports and is one of the largest centres of cargo transportation by air in the Baltic States. The airport meets international standards and is capable of servicing all types of aircraft. The Nemunas river is the most important waterway and is suitable for the transportation of cargo and passengers, as well as being capable of handling developing tourism along its banks. The closest seaport Klaipeda is located approximately 220 km westward.
Kaunas is one of the country?s main railway junctions, with lines connecting Vilnius, ?iauliai, Marijampole and Kaliningrad.
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