Structural and Sectoral Disproportions in Ukraine’s Industrial Development: Manifestations and Consequences

The article is devoted to identifying the key features of Ukraine's industrial development and assessing the sectoral disproportions in the industrial sector caused by structural constraints. For Ukraine, overcoming structural and sectoral problems is a critical precondition for industrial modernization and for ensuring its development in line with the principles of Industry 4.0 and 5.0. Sectoral disproportions in Ukraine are manifested in deindustrialization, the primitive nature of the economic production structure, uneven development of low- and high-technology industries, low productivity, the loss of complex production and technological competences, and, consequently, the weak competitiveness of Ukrainian manufacturers in global markets. Based on the conducted assessment, the article identifies the major problems of the industrial sector that determine Ukraine's weak position as a producer of finished goods on the world market. These include: deepening raw-material dependence and the declining share of high-technology industries; disruption of logistics and production chains, particularly in metallurgy, machine building and chemicals; high energy vulnerability; the downturn of the manufacturing sector due to infrastructure destruction, labour shortages, and reduced industrial cooperation; a shift in exports towards less complex and less capital-intensive products, which reinforces structural distortions; and the dependence of many industries on external markets and capital-intensive imported equipment, making them highly vulnerable during wartime.