Import Dependence of the Ukrainian Economy: Problems and Solutions

As world experience shows, most countries at certain stages of development have implemented a policy of import substitution in order to protect certain sectors of their economy until they reach a sufficient level of competitiveness in the world market. The need for import substitution for Ukraine is due to the fact that this process is a catalyst for structural changes in the economy, a prerequisite for its innovation development, an incentive to increase business activity, as well as a basis for increasing the export potential of national commodity producers. The purpose of the article is to determine the level of import dependence of the Ukrainian economy on segments of consumption of processing industry products and substantiation of directions and mechanisms of realization of the state policy of import substitution. In this context, a comparative estimation of the dependence of the economy of Ukraine and the EU countries on imports of industrial products is made in the context of 16 manufacturing industries of the processing industry, classified according to the standards of the Eurostat. On the basis of the use of data of the "cost-issue" matrix, the share of imports in the total consumption of products of the processing industry in Ukraine, which reached 52.4% in 2016, while the average value of this indicator in the member states of the EU was 37.4%, has been determined. The highest dependence of the national economy on the import of products of mechanical engineering and chemical industry, that is, the key system-forming hightech industries, has been established. Based on the results of calculations and analytical assessments, the system of import substitution priorities in the national market of industrial goods in Ukraine has been developed and the basic directions of development of import substitution production have been outlined. The scientific novelty of the results obtained is to determine the structural and dynamic transformations in the intermediate and final consumption of industrial products (Ukrainian and imported), as well as gross accumulation of fixed capital in Ukraine. The proposed set of instruments of regulatory influence of the state (fiscal, organizational and trade policy instruments), aimed at reducing the degree of import dependence of the national economy, is of practical value. At the same time, the implementation of the state policy of import substitution requires exhaustive analytical assessments, first of all, the efficiency of investments in the organization of new or reconstruction of existing production, the products of which are capable of replacing imports in the national market.