The Foreign Trade in Goods in Cities of Regional Significance in the Western Part of Ukraine: Tendencies and Structural Changes

Abstract

The article analyzes tendencies, regularities and structural changes in the foreign trade in goods in cities of regional significance in the Western part of Ukraine. In particular, the correspondence of tendencies of the foreign trade in goods (exports and imports) in regional cities to the general tendencies that occur in their areas is analyzed; the contribution of regional cities to the development of export-import activities of their regions is assessed, and the structural transformations in the export of goods in the cities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Rivne are analyzed. It has been determined that in terms of the import of goods the Western part of Ukraine has common national trends (the general decline in the volume of imports of goods), and in terms of the export of goods, in contrast to the nationwide tendencies - there is an increase in the volume of international in trade goods. The defining role of cities in implementing the import of goods to the region is proven and the peculiarities of export tendencies are identified, which show that the commodity export potential of the Lviv, Volyn and Zakarpatska regions is concentrated beyond the large and medium-sized cities, i.e., on the periphery, so their importance as centers of production and of trade potential is essentially reduced. The raw material orientation of national commodity exports is confirmed and a differentiated approach to the development of export activities in regional cities is proposed on the basis of identified trends, regularities, peculiarities and problems.

Keywords

• foreign trade in goods
• export-import operations
• cities of regional significance
• western part of ukraine
• structural changes