Ukrainian State Regional Development Fund: Current Realities, Opportunities

The article examines the modern realities of the functioning of the State Regional Development Fund as a budget program within the State Budget of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to reveal the key features of the Fund functioning in modern conditions, to assess the current state of financial support of regional development projects, to identify the main problems in this field, and to develop possible solutions. The article substantiates the importance of sustainable development of territories as a mode of functioning of the region, characterized by harmonious positive changes in the most important spheres of life of the individual, society, and state, considering the interests of present and future generations. The change of the tendency of the gap between the declared and approved volumes of financing of regional development projects in 2015-2021 is estimated and the possible consequences of such gap are outlined. The volume and number of development projects in the regional and district dimension, funded by the Ukrainian State Regional Development Fund in 2020, are marked on the map of Ukraine. The need for uniform distribution of project financing based on the new zoning and elimination of "white spots" on the project map is emphasized. The ratio of the number of regional development projects in terms of settlements of implementation by their status was studied. Structural analysis of the use of funds of the Ukrainian State Regional Development Fund by purpose and type of work is performed; the average cost of regional development projects by category and in general are calculated and compared. Based on the analysis, the "bottlenecks" of the Ukrainian State Regional Development Fund functioning at the present stage are identified and the ways to solve them are proposed.