New regional policy of Ukraine: tools and directions of response in the context of modern challenges

Abstract

The experience of the new regional policy of the EU and its implementation in the domestic economy is important for Ukraine, which, on the one hand, is facing the unprecedented challenge of the war with Russia and its destructive influence on the economy and infrastructure, and, on the other hand, under these conditions has received the status of a candidate for EU membership, and has thus taken an important step towards EU membership. The purpose of the article is to research new approaches to the formation of the regional policy of Ukraine and the directions of its convergence with the regional policy of the EU. The article defines the directions of convergence of regional policies of the EU and Ukraine, namely: synchronization of development planning periods, stimulation of development of functional types of territories, common principles of regional policy formation, etc. The advantages and disadvantages of the use of regional development tools in Ukraine are analyzed, including regional development strategies, regional development agencies, typology of territories, the system of financial equalization of territorial development, etc. The peculiarities of the development of the domestic regional policy related to its implicitness, the shift of the emphasis from the regional to the local level, and the reduction of the resource and institutional capacity of the regions are outlined. The main challenges and risks of Ukraine’s regional policy caused by the war, reforms, and peculiarities of national and regional administration are defined and directions for their leveling are outlined. The article emphasizes that the prospects for the development of territories in Ukraine should be planned taking into account structural changes in the economy, business relocation, changes in the structure of population resettlement, changes in logistics chains, the permanent threat of the neighborhood with the Russian Federation, etc. The primary tasks should be the following: making changes in the strategic documents of the state and regions, creating a fund for the restoration of territories, changing the approaches to financing regional projects, and strengthening cost equalization.