Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

Abstract

The structure of Ukraine’s exports to the EU is estimated and the problems and opportunities for domestic exporters under the impact of the Free Trade Area Agreement between Ukraine and the EU are defined. It is indicated that trade liberalization does not allow free access to the EU market for Ukrainian exporters; Ukraine must adopt the EU legislation in the field of technical standarts . The reasons for increasing the intensity of Ukraine-EU trade, including the elimination of customs duties, the reorientation of trade flows from the Russian Federation to the EU, the growth in the purchasing power in the EU and decline in it as a result of the economic crisis in Ukraine, were determined. Particular emphasis was placed on the progress in meeting EU technical and environmental regulations. Ukraine has the lowest position of eco-innovative efficiency in comparison with the EU members. Therefore, taking into account the negative structure of domestic exports and EU technical standarts and norms, an urgent transition to a deep eco-innovative development of export industries is highly required . The implementation of eco-innovative projects and technologies by Ukrainian producers of different sizes (small, medium, large) is analyzed. The study shows that eco-innovative activities of Ukrainian enterprises is directly related to their size: the large enterprises have large funds, produce more products, are more interested in entering the EU market, and therefore have more opportunities and needs to meet EU technical (ecological) requirements. It is concluded that the FTA Agreement should become an additional stimulus for the eco-innovative activities of Ukrainian expoters due to the need of their meeting the European standards of quality and criteria of eco-production. The major barriers to the development of the enterprises’ eco-innovative activity have been identified as the lack of capital, lack of motivation, lack of knowledge and experience, lack of technical knowledge, lack of cooperation between the research institutions and enterprises, unfavorable political, informational and social environment, corruption. Key words: eco-innovative activities; exporters; eco-innovations; Ukraine-EU association agreement; Free Trade Area Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.