IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF THE ECONOMY OF UKRAINE AT THE STAGE OF REGIONAL COOPERATION OF THE EASTERN EUROPE COUNTRIES (in two parts)

Operating conditions of the global market environment dictate the need for strengthening innovation as the most effective way to improve the competitiveness of the economy and further develop it on an intensive basis. The rationale for the strategic direction of development in which a key role is given to innovation is unprecedented success of economies of highly developed European countries and other countries of the world which resulted from the practical implementation of innovative models of development. In the first part of the article systematization of cluster development problems has been presented, based on the results of the generalization of European and international experience. The basic areas for stimulating cluster initiatives, as well as measures for implementing them in the practice of the national economy has been determined. The necessity for further development of clusters as a key tool for stimulating the innovative activity of enterprises in order to create the necessary conditions for improving the competitiveness of the economy has been proved. The second part contains the possible scenarios of development of the Ukrainian economy in the future 10 – 15 years on the basis of the concept of Eastern Europe modern development. The results of the analysis obtained by comparing the different options of regional cooperation of certain countries of Eastern Europe have been presented, and the position of Ukraine in the formation of the necessary capacity for further development of its economy has been determined.