Dominants of Structural Changes in the Economy of Ukraine: Regional Dimension

Subject and purpose of the work Russian armed aggression sharply slowed down the socioeconomic development of Ukraine, causing colossal loss of human capital, productive and non-productive assets, and disruption of logistics and economic ties. Under the influence of these losses and destruction, the Ukrainian economy underwent significant changes. The purpose of the article is to assess the determinants of the structural and spatial transformation of the economy of Ukraine in a regional context. Materials and methods The information base of the study was official data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. During the study, methods of trend analysis of indicators of the volume of sold products, gross added value, output, employment, and labor productivity in the context of basic types of economic activity and regions of Ukraine were applied. The justification of the determinants of the structural and spatial transformation of the Ukrainian economy was based on methods of comparative analysis, data systematization, and scientific abstraction. Results Based on the analysis of the values of the gross domestic product indicator of Ukraine, structural changes in the national economy were diagnosed during 2021-2023. Vectors of development of basic types of economic activity, in particular, industry, agriculture, trade, and construction, were established in comparison with the losses incurred in the conditions of a full-scale war. The emphasis was on the positive transformation of the structure of output of industrial and, in particular, metallurgical products in Ukraine. Changes in the export potential of the domestic processing industry by production were analyzed. Changes in the economic specialization of the regions of Ukraine were determined by the criterion of the share of basic types of economic activity in gross value added. An assessment of the results of the functioning of the economies of the regions was carried out by indicators of the volume of products sold, output, employment, and labor productivity. Conclusions Despite significant losses and destruction as a result of a full-scale war, the economy of Ukraine is gradually recovering. All basic types of economic activity demonstrate positive development dynamics. The restoration of the industrial sector of the Ukrainian economy is taking place mainly through increasing the production of defense products, which stimulated the accelerated development of all segments of mechanical engineering. The prospects for further development of the Ukrainian economy lie in the plane of neo-industrialization.