FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO FARMERS IN UKRAINE IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Abstract

Farms are of vital economic and social importance in the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine. Farms are a key element in ensuring the country's food security and solving the socio-economic problems of rural areas. Their support is a necessary condition for the sustainable development of the country. At the current stage of development, there are specific problems and difficulties with financial support for Ukrainian farms. Farmers who are used to relying only on themselves usually turn to bank loans. However, grants and support programs for specific areas can be an alternative. These funds are sometimes more accessible, cheaper, or even provided on a non-repayable basis. The article analyses the current state of financial support for farms in Ukraine, notes the experience of the European Union (EU) in implementing support programs for local farmers. It is considers the mechanism of the EU common agricultural policy (CAP), presents the prospects for implementing the EU policy on financial support for farmers in Ukraine, and identifies recommendations for adapting and increasing the effectiveness of financial support, taking into account European standards. In 2019, the UN declared the period until 2028 the “decade of family farms”. Local production and processing of finished products, self-employment of rural families, filling the regional budget and the state’s GNP are what small family farms in other countries provide today. Moreover, EU countries support this. There are about 118 rural development programs in EU, but most are focused on the development of family farming. Such as an advisory service to support small farms; a credit system, a preferential tax system, support for production development, dating of wages in disadvantaged areas (for example, for mountainous areas), support for farmers’ markets, control over the distribution of agricultural land, etc. Over the past two decades, small farmers in Ukraine have remained outside the priorities of state agrarian policy. The main support for agriculture in the form of tax breaks and subsidies has been directed at large agricultural enterprises, which has created unfavorable conditions for the development and growth of small producers. Therefore, it is obvious that in order to bring agrarian regions out of a depressed state, it is necessary to implement an effective state policy aimed at supporting and developing small farming.