Simulation of the assessment of the competitiveness of sea ports of Ukraine using the Harrington function

Relevance of the research topic. The article is devoted to the problem of assessing the competitiveness of seaports of Ukraine, the relevance of which is highlighted in the National Transport Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030; Strategies for the development of seaports of Ukraine for the period up to 2038; Corporate strategy of the state enterprise "Administration of Seaports of Ukraine" until 2025. Analysis of recent research and publications. The article provides an overview of modern foreign publications on assessing the competitiveness of seaports using various methods, in particular: the Herfindahl-Hirschman index; psychometric Likert scale; expert assessments based on an extended version of M. Porter's "diamond" approach. Selection of unexplored parts of the general problem. The author emphasizes the inadequacy of domestic work on assessing the competitiveness of seaports using economic and mathematical modeling. Problem statement, research goals. The aim of the article is to implement a methodological approach to assessing the competitiveness of Ukrainian seaports using the Harrington desirability function. Method or methodology of the study. The methodological basis of the study is the methods of economic and mathematical modeling. Presentation of the main material. In modern economic conditions, the seaport is considered a complex economic system. One of the most convenient and clear methods of solving multicriteria problems, which include the assessment of competitiveness, is the desirable function of Harrington. The author simulates the assessment of the level of competitiveness of 13 seaports of Ukraine using the psychophysical scale of Harrington's desirability on the basis of these indicators that characterize their technical condition. Conclusions in accordance with the article. As a result of modeling, it was obtained that the generalized coefficient of desirability of assessing the competitiveness of Ukrainian seaports has a value in the range from 0.42 to 0.77, ie the assessment of "satisfactory" and "good". This means that the modernization of ports, which helps to improve these indicators (number of berths, their length, maximum depth of parking near berths, the total area of warehouses) can significantly increase the level of their competitiveness.