ASSESSMENT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN THE REGIONS OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Since agriculture is one of the most important types of economic activity, due to its specific features, it needs some financial support, which will accelerate the growth of agricultural production and increase the competitiveness of this type of economic activity.It was investigated that as of January 1, 2015, there were 45,400 agricultural enterprises in the country, of which 32,2 thousand were farms; as of January 1, 2016 – 47.7 thousand agricultural enterprises, of which 33.7 thousand – farms; as of January 1, 2017 – 45.6 thousand agricultural enterprises, of which 34.1 thousand – farms.In the period of 2015-2017, financial support was provided: measures by reducing the cost of loans; development of farms (carried out through the Ukrainian state fund of support of farms); livestock breeding; agricultural producers.The volume of state financial support provided to agriculture was analyzed, and it was established that in the years 2015–2017 it was financed by UAH 540.6 million; 330.8 million UAH and UAH 499.1 million. in accordance. It should be noted that in 2017, compared with 2016, state financing by reducing the cost of loans decreased by 16.0%, but increased in support of the development of farms (8.2%) and livestock (17.8%).The analysis of state financial support in general in the regions of Ukraine shows that in 2015 the largest volumes of funding were received from Poltava and Chernihiv regions, in 2016 – Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, and in 2017 – Vinnytsya, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions. In our opinion, this situation is explained by the activity in these regions of a significant number of agricultural enterprises, including farms, and significant volumes of their production of agricultural products.Regarding the insignificant state financial support, this situation was typical for Transcarpathian (2015–2017 years). It should be noted that the lowest gross agricultural output was characteristic of the Transcarpathian region. We believe that this situation is primarily due to the natural conditions in Transcarpathia, which does not allow for a sufficient level of profitability of agriculture.In addition, state financing, the main source of financial resources for the ongoing activities of agricultural enterprises, remains bank lending.According to the statistics of the National Bank of Ukraine, it should be noted that the volume of credit resources provided by deposit-taking corporations (except for the NBU) to agricultural enterprises for the period 2015–2017, grew from UAH 48425 million. to 59706 million UAH, that is 23.3%.Total regions of Ukraine attracted credit funds worth 48.4 billion UAH. in 2015; for the amount of 55.4 billion UAH. in 2016; to the amount of 59.7 billion UAH. in 2017 Thus, for the analyzed period, the volume of attraction of credits to agriculture increased by 23.3%, which indicates the restoration of trust between banks and the agrarian sector.In the period of 2015–2017, the largest volumes of credit resources in Ukraine were attracted by the agricultural enterprises of the Kyiv region, and the smallest – Lugansk (2015), Transcarpathian (2015–2016) and Donetsk (2017) regions.In order to formulate strategies for financing further development of agriculture in the regions of Ukraine, we consider it necessary to group regions according to the level of financial support of agriculture.After analyzing the regions by level of financing, it was established that some regions, ahead of other regions in terms of agricultural production, did not maintain the necessary funding.Based on this, the priorities of further financial support of agriculture in the regions of Ukraine are determined.