Regional aspect of the efficiency of lending to the agricultural sector of the Ukrainian economy

Ukrainian agriculture has shown resilience, adaptability, and production flexibility during the war. At the same time, the priority issues are the lack of financial resources for business operations, the restoration of damaged facilities and ensuring technological discipline. In this context, the issue of lending to agricultural enterprises is of great relevance. The purpose of this study was to improve and develop methodological tools for assessing the credit burden and efficiency of lending in agriculture by region of Ukraine. The study employed several methods of cognition: comparative analysis, tabular, graphical, statistical, computational-constructive, abstract-logical. In 2015-2022, lending to agricultural producers increased by 2.4 times (by 43.5% or UAH 35.9 billion in 2022 alone). The share of loans attracted is dominated by Kyiv Oblast (31%). The share of lending to the agricultural sector increased by 2.6 times (from 6.1% to 15.7%). Ukrainian agrarians are lent mainly in the national currency (76.4% of disbursed loans) and for terms up to one year (54.4%), with terms of 1 to 5 years (41.2%). In 2015-2021, the loan burden per business entity and per employee almost doubled. The highest lending efficiency was demonstrated by farms in Zakarpattia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Luhansk, and Chernivtsi oblasts. During the first year of the full-scale war, the efficiency of lending in agriculture fell by 48% (from 8.63 to 4.49 thousand UAH). Agricultural enterprises need support from both the state and credit institutions. The practical significance of this study is determined by the improvement of tools for measuring the level of credit burden and assessing the effectiveness of lending in the agricultural sector of the economy by regions of Ukraine, which can be used by public and sectoral authorities in the regional practice of monitoring and intensifying the practice of state financial support for rural producers