DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES AS AN ORGANIZATIONAL AND LEGAL FORM

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the current state of existing agricultural cooperatives within the country and their features in Lviv region, main problems of development of this organizational and legal form have been identified. It is established that the functioning of agricultural cooperatives in Lviv region is still in its infancy due to imperfect institutional environment and their production and economic results do not have a significant impact on the overall economic condition of the agricultural sector and the welfare of the rural citizens. Dynamics of registered cooperatives in Ukraine is compared with the actual ones. It is shown that the development of cooperative process is made due to changes to general socio-economic situation in the industry, which is facilitated by state authorities, as well as development of the latest forms and methods of organizing economic activity in rural areas, implemented on a project basis. Conclusions are made that creation and functioning of cooperatives is the result of institutional changes, and cooperative organizational forms can be considered as a certain social capital. It is established that the main problems of agricultural cooperation development in Ukraine are: incomplete restructuring of the agricultural sector, weak material and technical base of cooperatives, especially in capital-intensive areas of agricultural production, unavailability of loans and weak financial support of agricultural cooperation by the state. It is shown that the state policy should be aimed at creating conditions for the development of agricultural cooperatives, intensification of cooperatives, state support and legal protection of cooperatives, optimization of tax policy by differentiating tax rates and facilitating access to credit for agricultural cooperatives. rural households. It is recommended in further research to pay attention to the elimination of identified obstacles, primarily of an institutional nature, in accelerating the development of agricultural cooperatives as an organizational and legal form that has significant potential for its development. Keywords: agricultural cooperatives, organizational and economic form, cooperative movement, production cooperatives, service cooperative.