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RESEARCH CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS of NAS of Ukraine (KHARKIV, UKRAINE)

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Liburkina L. M.

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Ukraine’s Foreign Economic Activity Amid Business Transnationalization: Structural Transformations and Regulatory Challenges
Kuznietsov O. Y., Vakhovych I. M.

Kuznietsov, Oleksandr Yu., and Vakhovych, Iryna M. (2026) “Ukraine’s Foreign Economic Activity Amid Business Transnationalization: Structural Transformations and Regulatory Challenges.” Business Inform 8:351–366.
https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-4459-2026-8-351-366

Section: Finance, Money Circulation and Credit

Article is written in Ukrainian
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UDC 339.5:339.9:336.22

Abstract:
The article examines the structural and spatial transformations of Ukraine’s foreign economic activity and substantiates their relationship with the increasing transnationalization of business and the growing complexity of regulating cross-border financial relations. The literature review reveals that structural changes in foreign trade, its European reorientation, the activities of multinational enterprises, and transfer pricing are predominantly addressed as separate research areas, while the interrelationships among these processes remain insufficiently explored. The aim of the study is to identify the structural and spatial transformations of Ukraine’s foreign economic activity and determine the regulatory challenges arising from the increasing transnationalization of business. The methodological framework combines systemic and structural-dynamic approaches and employs statistical, comparative, and structural analysis, periodization, generalization, and SWOT analysis. The empirical basis comprises official statistics on Ukraine’s foreign trade for 2010-2024, data from international organizations, and findings from contemporary academic research. The study identifies four stages in the structural adaptation of Ukraine’s foreign trade and demonstrates that major external shocks resulted not in a return to the previous model of foreign economic activity but in the emergence of its modified configuration. A structural asymmetry in merchandise trade is identified, reflected in the substantial role of agrarian, food, and metallurgical products in exports alongside considerable dependence on imports of more technologically sophisticated goods. At the same time, trade in services exhibits a different pattern, with competitive advantages largely driven by human capital, knowledge, and digital competencies. The findings confirm the long-term nature of the European reorientation of Ukraine’s foreign economic relations and demonstrate that this process involves not only changes in the geographical distribution of trade flows but also the gradual integration of Ukrainian enterprises into a different institutional and regulatory environment. The SWOT analysis systematizes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with the regulation of cross-border transactions amid increasing business transnationalization. The scientific novelty of the study lies in substantiating a sequential causal relationship between the structural transformation of foreign economic activity, the spatial reorientation of foreign economic relations, the increasing transnationalization of business, the growing complexity of cross-border corporate transactions, and the resulting higher requirements for mechanisms of their financial regulation. Within this framework, transfer pricing is interpreted not solely as an instrument of tax control but also as a mechanism for regulating financial relations whose importance increases as value creation processes become increasingly transnationalized. The practical value of the findings lies in their applicability to substantiating priorities for the structural diversification of Ukraine’s foreign economic activity, strengthening its integration into global value chains, and improving the regulation of cross-border corporate transactions.

Keywords: foreign economic activity; foreign trade; structural transformation; business transnationalization; multinational corporations; transfer pricing; financial regulation; European integration.

Fig.: 3. Tabl.: 5. Bibl.: 26.

Kuznietsov Oleksandr Yu. – Postgraduate Student, Lutsk National Technical University (75 Lvіvska Str., Lutsk, Volyn region, 43018, Ukraine)
Email: [email protected]
Vakhovych Iryna M. – Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Professor, Rector, Lutsk National Technical University (75 Lvіvska Str., Lutsk, Volyn region, 43018, Ukraine)
Email: [email protected]

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