The Paradigm of Reforming the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Ukraine at the NUTS-1 Level

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the proposals on the reform of the administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine in the context of Euro-integration development. It is shown that EU enlargement is accompanied by reforms of the administrative and territorial structure of the country, which are oriented on the creation of structures that optimize the processes of achieving the general welfare of the population. The overall regionalization in the EU was based on a single standard – nomenclature of territorial units for statistical purposes (NUTS). The system of ideas of the article includes the provision that in the course of regional reforms the priority should be given to the highest level, otherwise the gap in the chain of territorial transformations will be formed. At the same time, the experience of conducting regional reforms in the EU countries should be taken into account. Accordingly, it is expedient for Ukraine to significantly increase the historical and ethnographic direction in determining the boundaries and names of the region in order to more fully take into account the geographical features of the country, to effectively use the synergy of the common mentality and local experience, to apply in a coherent manner the factor of homogeneity of resources in economic development, to form tourism specialization, to improve international relations with border areas. Regions need to be given the status of the regions, which will meet the challenges of the decentralization process. The versatility of such an administrative-territorial division consists in the fact that the land is any area and a vast area, and a territory gravitating towards any geographical object, and historically unique terrain.