The WEF list includes 12 oblasts, Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Lviv, Khmelnytsk, Zakarpattya, Kherson and Crimea which, in the WEF opinion, represent different economic structures and cultural specifics.

According to the WEF report, competitiveness of Ukrainian oblasts is diverging, with the rates of between 53 and 93 on the global list However, the ratings of all oblasts are affected by high degree of political instability in the country which impacts the development of business.

In defining the position on the list, 12 factors were considered by WEF experts: the level of the development of infrastructure, financial market, labor, goods and services market, macroeconomic stability, health care and education, both secondary and higher. The list is based not only on the analysis of macroeconomic indicators in the oblasts but also on polling business representatives.

Kyiv is an absolute leader, with its rating of 4.25 matching that of Croatia. Dnipropetrovsk oblast has the 4.24 rating and leads Cyprus. Ukraine’s Western oblasts were given high ratings: Zakarpattya leads Turkey for its development, Khmelnytsky oblast leads Brazil, Lviv oblast is on a par with Russia. The Donetsk oblast was rated low for competitiveness, with 4.07 which is Ukraine’s average and equals the Sumy oblast. The lowest rates were given to Crimea, 3.99, oblasts Poltava, 4.02, Vinnytsia, 3.98, Kherson, 3.9, Cherkasy, 3.85.

As of April 1, 2008, the largest share of FDI went to Kyiv, 34.4% and Dnipropetrovsk, 9.4%. By contrast, oblasts Zakarpattya, Lviv, Khmelnytsky and Sumy posted insignificant FDI at 1.1%, 2.7%, 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.