Prospects for the Development of Inter-Municipal Community Cooperation in Ukraine

Abstract. Introduction. Attention to the issues of inter-municipal cooperation of communities in Ukraine has been updated. Today, most territorial communities are subsidized, which does not allow them to implement important investment, in particular infrastructure, projects on their own. On the other hand, the communities do not have sufficient support from the central and regional authorities. In such conditions, inter-municipal community cooperation becomes a promising alternative for attracting internal resources for local economic development. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to highlight the results of a sociological study regarding the problems and perspectives and to substantiate on this basis proposals regarding the development of inter-municipal cooperation of territorial communities in Ukraine. Results. It was concluded that inter-municipal cooperation as an element of state policy today occupies a rather important place in the system of priorities for both socio-economic development and European integration of Ukraine. It is shown that Ukraine is characterized by a situation where decisions made by state administration bodies regarding the development of community cooperation do not fully take into account the real state of affairs in this area, as they are not based on deep knowledge of the subject to a sufficient extent. The results of an expert survey on problematic aspects and prospects for the development of inter-municipal cooperation of territorial communities in Ukraine are highlighted. Based on the results of the conducted expert survey (study of public opinion of residents of territorial communities, experts, representatives of public organizations, regional development agencies, scientists, entrepreneurs, employees of local state authorities and local self-government bodies) revealed negative prerequisites and obstacles to the development of intermunicipal cooperation. Conclusions. According to the results of the research, the priority measures that must be implemented in order to activate the cooperation of territorial communities are substantiated. Forms of implementation of cooperation of territorial communities are defined, in particular: (1) development of institutional elements of cooperation; (2) cross-border development of clusters on the territory of one of the two neighboring communities; (3) interregional development and implementation of joint projects in the spheres of economy and society.