Functioning of the Fish and Seafood Market in Ukraine

Ukraine is one of the states that, to a large extent, meet their own needs for various crop and livestock products. At the same time, the capabilities of our agricultural sector allow forming an offer in an amount sufficient for profitable supplies to other countries. Therefore, when considering in detail the functioning of most agri-food markets in Ukraine, production and export are mainly described as the main structural elements of the balance sheet. In the case of the fish and seafood market, a completely different picture is observed, when the indicators and features of import and consumption come to the fore. The problem of import dependence in this segment only increases over time, caused by a combination of objective and subjective factors of an economic, social, and political nature. It is important from a scientific standpoint in this context to compare individual indicators of the world and Ukrainian fish and seafood markets to demonstrate the reasons for the different levels of their development at the present stage. The need to consider these and other related issues indicates the relevance of this topic. The purpose of the study is to investigate the situation on the Ukrainian fish and seafood market, the importance of its import for the generation of domestic supply and demand, to determine the potential of production in Ukraine at the expense of its own specialised industries. The following methods are used: theoretical generalisation, analysis and synthesis, comparative evaluation, historical, graphical, and tabular. The dynamics of import to Ukraine of products of group 3 of the UKTZED “Fish, crustaceans, mollusks” in quantitative and cost indicators, the general balance of these products, changes in its production by Ukrainian enterprises together with the key reasons, a detailed description of quantitative and qualitative indicators of the global market for these products, in particular, with the selection of leading countries in production, exports, consumption trends, assessed the prospects for its development, established a focus on the systemic development of the world market of fish and seafood in the context of movement of goods from primary producer to the final consumer, provided proposals for Ukrainian market to increase own production through legalisation and stimulation of aquaculture. The provisions of the study are aimed at informing Ukrainian industry enterprises, potential producers, and responsible state authorities about current trends in the global fish and seafood market to identify the potential of domestic production and reduce Ukraine’s dependence on imports of this group of products.