Mechanical engineering development in Ukraine: trends and threats

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive scientific and analytical justification of the causes and consequences of problematic functioning of machine-building industries in Ukraine. The negative impact of economic globalization (the manifestations of which were the expansion of free trade zones, that is, the reduction or abolition of tariff and non-tariff barriers between countries, the promotion of offshoring and the increase of tolling operations) on the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the activity of domestic machine-building enterprises, in particular: gross added value, production, export and import. The destructive transformation of the structure of the Ukrainian machine-building industry since 2014 in terms of machine-building industries is shown. The sharp reduction (almost by 50%) of high-tech exports from Ukraine and, at the same time, the growth of the share of products manufactured on the basis of raw materials are emphasized. A comparative (with some EU countries) assessment of investment and innovation processes in Ukrainian engineering was carried out, in particular, the technological structure of capital investments, production and export of innovative engineering products were investigated. The gradual transformation of the Ukrainian engineering industry from an integral strategic sector of the national economy to separate segments of the supply of intermediate consumption products and services to foreign markets has been established. It has been empirically proven that a direct consequence of the negative trends in the development of domestic machine-building industries was the deterioration of socio-economic indicators, in particular, a reduction in employment, a decrease in the level of labor productivity, and a decrease in wages. The urgent need for active actions of the state in the direction of ensuring the development of mechanical engineering in Ukraine (primarily its defense segment) in order to counteract the further "agrarianization" of the national economy, and instead to rebuild it on the basis of neo-industrialization and technological self-sufficiency, is substantiated.