Import policy: general goals and current problems of Ukraine

Abstract

The essence of import policy, its current problems and goals are investigated in this paper. The dynamics of foreign trade in Ukraine is also analyzed. It is determined that the import policy is an important tool for ensuring Ukraine's economic independence, preserving its own economic identity and security. The geographical and commodity structure of imports is analyzed, the countries with the highest share of imports to Ukraine are identified and the reasons for changes in the volume of imports of goods by broad economic categories are revealed. In particular, characterizing the real state of affairs in Ukrainian imports, it should be noted an interesting geopolitical dominant: the state's dependence on large energy supplies from abroad automatically turns countries - suppliers of oil and gas to leading sources of imported trade flows. And if during the 90s of XX century. there was a noticeable diversification of exports, then at the beginning of the new century the undisputed leader among other countries (before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine 24.02.2022) – suppliers of products to Ukraine remained Russia, due to large energy supplies. As a result, during the second half of the 1990s, Ukraine had total trade deficit of about $ 15 billion with Russia. USA. This is a third more than the average annual exports of our country at the end of the century. At the same time, Ukraine needs to provide alternative energy supply channels that can increase the importance of other countries, including Azerbaijan, if the relevant agreements are reached and the transport and pipeline infrastructure is created. Current issues and priority areas of import policy in Ukraine are analyzed. It is determined that effective means of solving the problem of import optimization is the customs policy, which takes into account the competition of goods on the national market with domestic goods, ways to accelerate the STP. Customs policy should be formed on the basis of national scientific and technical strategy. Thus, the investigation clearly outlines that the improvement of import strategy in the framework of balanced import substitution through government support for national producers of high-tech products and support for small businesses will increase the competitiveness of both individual industries and the domestic economy as a whole.