Perspectives of cross-border clusters development in the border oblasts of the Western Ukraine

Abstract

Clusters are considered to be the key to secure the competitiveness of the regional economy and implementation of goals under the innovative smart specialization directions in the entire developed world, including most EU countries. The EU is conducting a comprehensive goal-oriented cluster policy, which is part of its industrial policy. It supports and develops numerous initiatives, provides funding by the programs concerning clustering, and promotes the visibility and internationalization of clusters. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the cluster policy is lacking. Although the importance of clusters development is noted in several programs and strategic documents, there isn’t any actual organizational or financial support of their activity. The paper aims to define the perspectives of cross-border clusters development along the Western border of Ukraine, taking into account their proximity to the EU, areas of specialization of adjoining regions, and peculiarities of functioning of clusters in Ukraine. The paper examines the peculiarities of the cluster policies in the EU and in Ukraine. The major initiatives and programs of cluster development in the EU are determined. The current condition of clusters development in the border oblasts of the Western Ukraine is analyzed. The examples of successful cross-border clusters in the EU are offered. The list of declared cross-border clusters with Ukrainian participation in the border oblasts of the Western Ukraine is presented. The clusters in the adjoining regions of neighbouring countries along the Western border of Ukraine in the domains related to major directions of clusters activity in the respective Ukrainian oblasts within the cross-border region are detected. The smart specialization areas of the adjoining regions of neighbouring countries along the Western border of Ukraine in the domains within the major directions of clusters activity in the respective Ukrainian oblasts in the framework of the cross-border region are analyzed. The main bottlenecks of cross-border clusters development are outlined and the primary directions of their solution are suggested.