Statistical analysis of geographical structure foreign direct investment in Ukraine

Abstract

Introduction. Foreign direct investment occupies a significant place  in financial flows and creates tools through which stable and long-term ties between countries are formed. Investment flows, which are both balanced and geographically and conjunctively disproportionate, can have positive and negative consequences for the host country’s economy. Particular attention should be paid to the qualitative parameters of the foreign investment process, which include the country of origin of investments, that is, their geographical location.Purpose. The purpose of the article is a comprehensive study of the geographical structure of foreign direct investment in Ukraine throughout the time-period of our country’s existence as an independent participant in the process of foreign investment.Method (methodology). In the process of researching the selected topic, the following methods were used: monographic – in order to study the results of existing analytical research, the object of which is the process of foreign investment in Ukraine and its aspect as the geographical structure of foreign investments is investigated; method of calculating the relative values of the structure – for the research of the geographical structure of foreign direct investment in Ukraine, which made it possible to abstract from a specific numerical expression of the volume of parts of the population; tabular – for submission of analytical information about the object of research; graphic – for visual presentation of the obtained statistical data on the geographical structure of foreign direct investment in Ukraine. Results. International investment activity has a significant impact on the geographical structure of FDI in Ukraine. During the study period (1995 - the end of 2019) the main investors were European countries. They exported to Ukraine annually about 50 % of the total invested capital, and in 2006-2011s, this figure reached 70 %. Investments from the European Union play a crucial role in Ukraine’s foreign direct investment process.According to the research, over the past 25 years there have been significant transformations in the territorial geographical structure of FDI in Ukraine. First of all, the number of investor countries has increased and the role of leaders, such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, has decreased. The role of investments from offshore countries and countries equated to them, such as Cyprus, Belize, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Netherlands and others, has significantly increased. If in early 1995 the share of investments from these countries was about 11%, then at the beginning of 1998 this figure was 20 %, at the beginning of 2008 - 33%, at the beginning of 2011 – 51 %, and at the end of 2019 - 60 % respectively. It should be noted that there is no significant investment from South America, such as Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela, the industrialized countries of East and Southeast Asia and China, which is one of the 10 leading countries in the world. In this direction, promising investment cooperation should be expanded by concluding investment agreements taking into account the interests of future investors.Perspectives. In our opinion, promising in the future are studies of sectoral and territorial structure of FDI in terms of the largest countries of investors, assessment of their impact on the economic development of Ukraine in order to make effective management decisions in attracting foreign investors.