Cherkasy

Cherkasy Region is a Region in central Ukraine, located along the Dnipro River. The administrative center of the Region is the city of Cherkasy.

Cherkasy Region is the 18th largest Region of Ukraine, occupying about 3.5% of the country’s area. The southern Dnipro, with its hilly western bank and flat eastern bank, divides the Region into two parts. The Region borders Kyiv Region to the north, Kirovohrad Region to the south, Poltava Region to the east, and Vinnytsia Region to the west. It lies 192 km from Kyiv, 151 km from Boryspil Airport, and 450 km from the Odesa seaport.

Administratively, Cherkasy Region is divided into 4 districts, comprising 16 cities, 14 urban-type settlements, and 824 villages. The administrative center is Cherkasy.

The economy of the Region mainly consists of agriculture. The main products are winter wheat and sugar beet, while barley, corn, tobacco, and hemp are also grown. The important role of livestock farming is reflected in the Agricultural Production Index for 2024, which reached 102.7% – an increase compared to the previous year. However, enterprises remain focused on crop production, which accounts for 66.1% of total output, nearly double that of livestock production (33.9%).

Cherkasy Region ranks first among other Regions in terms of support for the cooperative movement: as of January 1, 2024, 111 agricultural cooperatives were actively operating. This demonstrates a high level of cooperation between agricultural producers and strong backing from local authorities for the development of the agricultural sector.

Industry is mainly concentrated in Cherkasy, the Regional capital and largest city. By the late 1960s, in addition to mechanical engineering, furniture production, and agricultural processing, the city had already developed a strong chemical industry.

In 2021, the Region’s GDP totaled $4.81 billion (2.41% of Ukraine’s GDP), foreign direct investment (FDI) reached $265 million (0.5% of Ukraine’s FDI), and exports amounted to $0.8 billion (1.6% of Ukraine’s exports).

Industry specialization: pharmaceutical industry, chemistry (fertilizers, chemical fibers), automotive industry (cars, injectors), agriculture (grain growing, poultry farming).

Natural resources: brown coal, titanium ores, bentonite, gypsum, clay, peat.

Three industrial parks currently operate in the Region: “Zolotonosha” (37.7 hectares of municipal property, 1,000 jobs), “Smila” (61.32 hectares of municipal property, about 1,800–3,000 jobs), and “Biosens” (29.68 hectares of private property, 500 jobs). They provide infrastructure for industrial enterprises engaged in food, feed, and energy production.

Higher education in the Region is provided by 10 institutions, the majority of which are universities. The leading institution is Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy.

The unemployment rate in 2021 stood at 9.8%, close to the national average of 9.9%. As of August 2025, the average monthly salary in the Cherkasy Region reached $505, compared with $627 nationally.