EU candidate status for Ukraine: economic prospects

Abstract

The paper analyzes the economic prospects of Ukraine receiving the status of a candidate for the European Union. The author emphasizes that the introduction of a visa-free regime between Ukraine and the EU in 2017 was a turning point in European integration. In the work, a comparative analysis of the main articles of the commodity structure of foreign trade of Ukraine in 2013 and 2021 was carried out. Against the background of the loss of 30-50% of the country's industrial potential in the occupied territories, there was a change in the structure of exports, which is evidenced by the structure of the competitiveness of the country's economic sectors on international markets - in 2013, the share of agro-industrial complex in Ukraine's exports was 26.5%, metallurgy - 27.8 %, mechanical engineering - 16.8%. In 2021, the share of agro-industrial complex increased to 40%, and engineering decreased to 9%. There has been a significant reorientation in the geographic structure of foreign trade. In 2013, the share of the CIS was 34%, European countries - 27%. At the beginning of 2021, the share of the CIS countries in the export structure of our country is only 10%. The study analyzes four main directions of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine with the help of the European Union (infrastructure reconstruction, continued modernization of the state, implementation of the integration agenda, increasing economic competitiveness). Therefore, the candidate status for Ukraine means, first of all, economic cooperation at a qualitatively new level.