AN ANALYSIS OF TENDENCIES AND PERSPECTIVES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN AND EASTERN EUROPEAN NATURAL STONE MARKETS

Abstract

Introduction. Natural stone is an important raw material that is widely used in many economic sectors including construction, agro-industrial complex, chemical and jewelry industries. Along with the development of economic relations in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, market regulators influence on the relations in these areas is growing as well. This is why the analysis of trends in the market development for natural stone in these countries requires scientific substantiation in order to determine the ways and prospects for its growth. Methods. General scientific methods are used in the period of research, such as: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction. Statistical methods are used to study the influence of trends and prospects for the development of the natural stone market. Results. The article presents results of the research about present tendencies and perspectives on the development of the Middle Eastern and Eastern European Natural Stone Markets. Analysis of recent materials, articles, statistics and scientists’ researches on the Middle Eastern countries and Eastern European countries natural stone deposits and theirs features in different countries, world trends in the construction and design industries and their impact on concrete regions’ tendencies allowed to distinguish some crucial changes in the demand of the mentioned above countries. The East European natural stone market has been growing steadily over the past decade, but according to the industry analysts, its demand level is still lower than in other developed countries, particularly the United States, Japan, Germany and France. The main manufacturers of natural stone in Eastern Europe are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic. Discussion. International natural stone market experts predict that the stone market will continue growing in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, due to increased demand for natural stone in construction, agro-industrial complex, chemical and jewelry industries.