The Ukraine's Agri-food Export Performance in the Context of Competitiveness

In a highly competitive environment of the global markets it is important to involve the means of strategic positioning for the agri-food sector. The need in maintaining the positive balance of payments determines the importance of research directed towards strengthening the global competitive position of high-value agricultural products from Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to assess the current level of competitiveness of the domestic agri-food sector in the context of the foreign economic activities and to determine the possibilities of attracting regulatory mechanisms in order to boost exports of the country. The comparison of the growth rate of exports of agri-food products and other commodities from Ukraine makes it possible to conclude in regards of the competitive positions of the first. The low cost strategy allows increasing the export of intermediate goods. At the same time, the underdeveloped monitoring system in the supply chains does not allow to create the positive image of Ukraine as a supplier of high quality foods. The analysis confirms the expediency of increasing the export volumes of high value added agri-food products. Functioning of commodity producers' associations can contribute to achieving the scale economies effect and increasing the level of competitiveness of the domestic agricultural sector in the foreign markets. The revealed tendency of increasing the export of agri-food products from Ukraine can be explained by application of low cost strategy for competitive advantage. The absence of a positive trend in growth of Ukraine's share of the world food exports and its low level requires the formation of effective regulatory mechanisms for agrarian policy. The insufficient level of support for domestic commodity producers, as compared to developed countries, threatens the further increase in country's volume of export. The decrease in the number of livestock impedes the implementation of import substitution strategies and the creation of opportunities for strengthening export performance of livestock production. The involvement of commodity producers' associations in the foreign economic activity in order to improve the quality of products and stimulate its sales on foreign markets can be prerequisite for fulfillment of export potential in agri-food industry.