For those who ask: “Why does Ukraine matter?” This is why Ukraine matters: 
It is the second-largest country in Europe by area and has a population of over 43 million persons – more than Poland by about 6 million.
Ukraine ranks:1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;
2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves;2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world’s reserves);2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)4th in the world by the total value of natural resources;7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)Ukraine is an important agricultural country:1st in Europe in terms of arable land area;
3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world’s volume);1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;4th largest producer of potatoes in the world;5th largest rye producer in the world;5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);8th place in the world in wheat exports;9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;16th place in the world in cheese exports. Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.
Ukraine is an important industrialized country:1st in Europe in ammonia production; Europe’s 2nd’s and the world’s 4th largest natural gas pipeline system;3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;3rd largest iron exporter in the world4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;4th world’s largest manufacturer of rocket launchers;
4th place in the world in clay exports4th place in the world in titanium exports8th place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates;9th place in the world in exports of defense industry products;10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons).Ukraine matters. That is why its independence is important to the rest of the world.
Source: Kalina Koleva