Nikolayev is a major shipbuilding center in Ukraine and an important riverport. The city has three major shipyards some of which are capable of building large navy ships.
Three giants - the Chernomorsky Shipyard (Black Sea Shipyard), the 61 Communards Shipyard and the Okean (Ocean) have a remarkable building record - having constructed the battleship "Potemkin", space research vessel "Academician Sergei Korolev", ocean-going trawlers, bulk carriers, cruisers and destroyers. Nikolayev's enterprises account for almost 50% of the total national shipbuilding output.
Apart from that, Nikolayev accounts for 90% of Ukraine's total output of gas turbines (Mashproekt and PA Zarya (Dayspring)) as well as 80% of alumina, a raw material for the production of aluminum (Nikolayev Alumina Plant). The produce of the Yantar brewery is well known both in Ukraine and beyond; the clothing and shoe industries are gaining momentum (JSC Evis and Niko) as well as knitwear and haberdashery factories (JSC Aura and Angela), dairy and ice-cream factories (Benier-Ukraine and Frost).
Other important industries are mechanical engineering, power engineering, metallurgy and cosmetics.
Nikolayev is a major entrepot with three seaports, a river port, and an international airport, one of the biggest in the south of Ukraine.
