Economy
The economy of Odessa is largely based around its traditional role as a port city; during the Soviet period the city was home to the USSR's largest trading port, a role which it still retains today as independent Ukraine's busiest international port. The port complex contains an oil and gas transfer and storage facility, a cargo handling area and a large passenger port. In 2007 the Port of Odessa handled 31,368,000 tonnes of cargo. The port of Odessa is also one of the Ukrainian Navy's most important bases on the Black Sea. Rail transport is another important sector of the economy in Odessa, this is largely due to the role it plays in delivering goods and imports to and from the city's port. Industrial enterprises located in and around the city include those dedicated to fuel refinement, machine building, metallurgy, and other types of light industry such as food preparation, timber plants and chemical industry. Agriculture is a relatively important sector in the territories surrounding the city. The Seventh-Kilometer Market is a major commercial complex on the outskirts of the city where private traders now operate one of the largest market complexes in Eastern Europe. The market has roughly 6,000 traders and an estimated 150,000 customers per day. Daily sales, according to the Ukrainian periodical Zerkalo Nedeli, were believed to be as high as USD 20 million in 2004. With a staff of 1,200 (mostly guards and janitors), the market is also the region's largest employer. It is owned by local land and agriculture tycoon Viktor A. Dobriansky and three partners of his.
Deribasovskaya Street is one of the city's most important commercial streets and a large number of the city's boutiques and higher-end shops can be found on it. In addition to this there are a number of large commercial shopping centres in the city. The 19th century shopping gallery Passage was, for a long time, the city's most upscale shopping district, and is to this day an important landmark of Odessa.
The tourism sector is of great importance to Odessa which is currently the second most visited Ukrainian city. In 2003 this sector recorded a total revenue of 189,2 mln UAH. Other sectors of the city's economy include the banking sector; the city is home to a branch of the National Bank of Ukraine. Imexbank, one of Ukraine's largest commercial banks is based in the city. Foreign business ventrues have also thrived in the area, as since January 1, 2000, much of the city and its surrounding area has been declared a free economic zone, this has aided the foundation of foreign companies' and corporations' Ukrainian divisions and allowed them to more easily invest in the Ukrainian manufacturing and service sectors. To date a number of Japanese and Chinese companies, as well as a host of European enterprises, have invested in the development of the free economic zone, to this end private investors in the city have invested a great deal of money into the provision of quality office real estate and modern manufacturing facilities such as warehouses and plant complexes.
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