Directions for Ensuring the Equivalence of Exchange in Agri-Food Chains in Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract The article examines the issues of intersectoral price relations in agri-food chains in Ukraine. It is proved that the imbalance of relations between different spheres of the agro-industrial complex due to price disparity causes the withdrawal of financial resources from one industry to another, without creating conditions for expanded reproduction. The factors influencing prices in agri-food chains are systematized: inflation, disparity, currency fluctuations, sales channels, etc. It is confirmed that the subjects of entrepreneurial activity of the agricultural sector of economy operated in conditions of price disparity during 2000–2019, which led to a relatively low value of their profitability. At the level of a participant in the chain of food industry entities, the price index for food industry products has been exceeded over the agricultural level, but there is a very low level of profitability – 1.4% in 2019. Analytically proved existence of a disparity between retail prices for food and agricultural products provides a profitability of wholesale and retail trade at 15.8–23.3%. Violation of the equivalence of exchange in supply chains at the level of wholesale and retail trade leads to the entry of agricultural enterprises into vertically integrated associations of the holding type. It is substantiated that ensuring the equivalence of exchange in agri-food chains requires the introduction of a set of value-added tools in the agricultural sector of antitrust regulation, market infrastructure development, rural cooperation and integration, and support for the development of small producers.