Import substitution of agricultural products on the market of Ukraine

Abstract

Background. Today, Ukraine’s agriculture is one of the most export-oriented sectors of the economy. The export of crop products, most notably, grain crops, is espe­cially successful. Population growth in most countries of the world, as well as climate change, accelerate the growth of demand for agricultural products. However, amid the constant growth in exports of crop products, there is a gradual increase in imports of live­stock products. Also, there is an increasing demand in Ukraine for certain types of crop products that are not grown in the country.
An analysis of recent research and publications has shown that mostly resear­chers study certain issues of imports of agricultural products, which are lacking in the domestic agricultural market.
The aim of the article is to analyze the level of import dependence of the main types of livestock and crop products and justify ways to reduce it in modern conditions.
Materials and methods. The article uses general scientific research methods: system and complex analysis, synthesis and abstraction, as well as the index method.
Results. The general rates of product import indicate a rather high import depen­dence of Ukraine in livestock production, which constitutes 12 % only for meat. The most critical situation with import dependence is regarding fish and fish products with a 70–76 % import rate. As for crop production, the most critical import dependence is in fruits, berries, and grapes, where it ranges from 35 % to 42 %. To accelerate the process of import substitution in Ukrainian agriculture, it is proposed to increase the volume of cultivation of the relevant types of domestic products, to form a flexible system of tariff and non-tariff regulation of imports and exports of agricultural products, to grow and promote substitutes and domestic analogs, to minimize Ukraine’s dependence on agricultural products of critical imports.
Conclusion. The expediency of import substitution in agriculture is based on ensu­ring food, and hence economic security of our state, as well as on preserving existing and creating new jobs not only in agriculture but also in other related sectors of the economy. Import substitution allows to leave the corresponding financial resources in the country and to create added value, primarily, in agriculture. As a result, the competitiveness of domestic farmers and the efficiency of their activities increase, and the domestic agricultural market becomes more stable and predictable.