Assessment of the innovative activity of transport enterprises in Ukraine

The article analyzes the innovative activity of enterprises. It has been established that the concept of an innovatively active enterprise does not have a clear definition in regulatory and legal sources and remains debatable in scientific circles. The general understanding of innovative activity as the intensity of innovative activity does not provide complete information for the needs of effective decision-making. The innovative activity of transport enterprises is an important factor in ensuring competitive advantages in the market of transport services, contributes to the acceleration of economic processes, qualitative transformations and development of enterprises, relevant regions and the country as a whole. Transport innovations are aimed at improving the quality, safety, environmental friendliness, economy and reliability of services provided by transport enterprises. In addition, innovations also have an image character, since transport infrastructure and the level of transport services affect the global indicators of the competitiveness of countries and national economies. Innovation is an important factor in the growth of business value. At the same time, they require resources, innovative thinking, sufficient internal potential and favorable factors of the external environment. It was established that in Ukraine, the number of innovatively active transport enterprises has unstable dynamics. Statistical observations for even years show that the number of innovatively active transport enterprises in Ukraine increased by 69 % in 2016–2018 and decreased by 76.6 % in 2018–2020, mainly due to land and pipeline transport. Along with this, the share of transport enterprises that implement innovations in the form of innovative products, goods, works, services and technological processes increased from 25.4 % of all innovatively active enterprises in 2016–2018 to 61.7 % in 2018–2020. The main reason for the reduction of estimated values in 2020 is the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic for Ukraine and the world. However, the growth of innovative activity of Ukrainian transport enterprises in 2016–2018 contributed to a further increase in the volume of implemented innovative products, works, and services in 2020 compared to 2018 by 1.22 times, mainly thanks to land and pipeline transport enterprises, in of which the corresponding indicator of dynamics was 347 %. The characteristic features of successful innovative companies are determined and it is proposed to define an innovatively active transport enterprise as an enterprise that has potential in the form of factors, resources and conditions for the creation, implementation and use of innovations in the provision of transport services, organization of own business processes and ensuring competitive advantages.