Agricultural reform in Ukraine: the history and present

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to reveal the process of implementing the agrarian reform in Ukraine as a natural stage of the development of the country's agriculture during the last 100 years. The existing problems in Ukrainian agriculture were considered and it was established that these problems have their roots in the past, in the 20s of the 20th century, when the natural development of agriculture was interrupted, Ukraine became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), private ownership of agricultural land and private farms were liquidated, collective and state agricultural enterprises were created instead. The paper analyzes the initial stage of agrarian reform in Ukraine at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries after gaining state independence, and it is concluded that agrarian transformations in the country took place quite completely, in comparison with the countries of Eastern Europe. One of the reasons for this state of affairs was the low efficiency of the management of this process on the part of the state authorities responsible for the reform, particularly land reform as a key factor in all agrarian transformations. Only after the beginning of the wide implementation of land reform and reforming of collective agricultural enterprises in the early 2000s, a rapid increase in the volume and efficiency of agricultural production began. The long-term moratorium on the sale and purchase of agricultural land (more than 30 years) was based on political, not economic, reasons. In the analysis of the prospects for the development of domestic agriculture in the period after the agrarian reform, modern comprehensive programs of strategic directions for increasing the efficiency of the industry and rural areas were used, in the development of which the author was involved. These state programs, namely the "Unified comprehensive strategy and action plan for the development of agriculture and rural areas in Ukraine for 2015-2020" and the "National Economic Strategy 2030" conclude with the main task of creating a competitive, export-oriented agriculture and the production of competitive food products in accordance with international safety and quality standards in the context of the European integration of Ukraine. The research methodology is based on the use of publications by Ukrainian and foreign researchers devoted to the analysis of economic transformation in Ukraine and other countries of the former socialist camp, as well as scientific developments by authors, in particular, as a member of teams of international experts and consultants on the development and implementation of agrarian reform in Ukraine. Further directions of research, which were covered in the article, should be aimed at the development of integration processes in the market structure of the European Union, adaptation of the national agrarian policy to the Common EU policy. This is to provide an opportunity to increase the welfare of agricultural workers, the efficiency and productivity of the domestic agrarian industry.