ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF LOSSES AND RECOVERY NEEDS OF UKRAINE’S CULTURE AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES SECTOR: A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article is devoted to the economic assessment of losses and recovery needs of Ukraine’s culture and creative industries (CCI) sector in a regional perspective. The relevance of the topic is explained by the unprecedented destruction of cultural infrastructure during the full-scale war and the lack of sufficient integration of CCI into national recovery and development strategies. The aim of the study is to provide a comparative analysis of the scale of regional losses, the financial needs for reconstruction, and the volume of resources available for recovery, while taking into account the necessity of regional differentiation in shaping effective state policy. The methodological approach combines the use of the RDNA4 dataset with budgetary statistics, which together make it possible to assess direct damage and recovery needs, and identify disparities between different groups of regions (frontline, vulnerable non-frontline, rear regions, occupied). The analysis applies both absolute and per-capita calculations, which helps to show how heavily different regions are affected by the war. The results reveal a significant gap between the enormous scale of losses and the extremely limited budgetary allocations for culture. At the same time, capital expenditure forms only a small fraction of overall budget spending on culture. The findings also highlight the critical importance of the regional dimension: frontline, vulnerable non-frontline, rear, and occupied territories require differentiated recovery plans adapted to their damage levels, pre-war CCI development, and security conditions. The study shows that most of the damage is concentrated in frontline and vulnerable non-frontline regions. At the national level, the differentiation of priorities is essential to prevent widening disparities in cultural development between regions. The practical value of the article lies in demonstrating that CCI should be recognized not only as an element of cultural policy but also as a strategic economic resource and a key instrument of Ukraine’s sustainable post-war recovery and regional growth.