BANK CREDIT IN FINANCIAL PROVISION OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

Abstract

The implementation of strategic tasks of the agrarian sector of Ukraine essentially depends on the financial provision of agricultural producers. In the context of limitation of their own financial resources, budget financing, low development of the financial instruments recognized in the world practice, the loans of commercial banks are an important source of financial resources for agricultural enterprises and small farmers. The use of bank loans positively affects the financial and economic activities of the producers in the agrarian sector due to the opportunity of diversification of sources of financing, growth of investment activity, acceleration of capital turnover, increase of profitability of own capital, etc. Though, there are a number of factors that restrain the bank crediting to the agrarian sector in the modern terms.
 The tendencies of bank crediting in financial provision of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine in 2013-2017 were considered. The changes in the nominal volumes both of bank crediting and real ones were estimated for this period. The comparison of the role of bank crediting to agricultural enterprises in Ukraine with the practice of lending in other countries on the base of the volume of bank loans per hectare of agricultural land, the share of these loans in the value of agricultural product and costs, Agriculture Orientation Index (AOI) for credit, was evaluated. The survey of agricultural enterprises showed a very low debt-to-assets ratio in 2017. Own financial resources of agricultural enterprises have remained the main source of their financial provision. The share of agriculture in total crediting is less than the contribution of the agriculture into the formation of gross value added in the country in recent years. The potential needs of agricultural enterprises in bank crediting were estimated. It was proved that the volume of bank crediting was insufficient for the financial support of operational and investment activity of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine. The necessary conditions for activation of bank crediting to agriculture were determined.