The impact of global economic challenges on the development of business activities in the field of trade

Abstract

The paper examines the impact of global economic challenges on the development of business activities in the field of trade for the period 2015-2023. Assessment and measurement of the impact of global economic changes is necessary for the formation of state policy in the field of trade for the period of martial law and post-war recovery. The purpose of the study is to analyse the features, status and conditions of development of trade entrepreneurship in the field of trade. The study used general scientific methods: theoretical generalisation, comparison of scientific sources; analysis, synthesis, formalisation, grouping, tabular and graphical display of results, logical generalisation to formulate conclusions. The study found that the impact of global economic challenges is very significant and can be assessed to some extent by a number of parameters. The dynamics of certain indicators of the trade sector shows that over the analysed period of 2014-2023, the number of operating enterprises under CEA G 45 decreased by 27.3%, and the number of employees by 17.7%. At the same time, the trends for individual entrepreneurs were somewhat different, with a more intense decline in GVA growth and productivity, as it increased 5.3 times in the industry but decreased by 8.5% for individual entrepreneurs. The regional dynamics of the volume of sales by wholesale and retail trade enterprises shows that Kyiv is the leader, followed by Dnipropetrovs'k, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions. The volume of products sold by wholesale and retail trade enterprises reached a significant growth in 2021, then due to the war, this dynamics became negative, but is gradually levelling off and, compared to 2022, is expected to grow by 13-18% in 2024. In general, the study assessed the scale of Ukraine's foreign trade in 2018-2024 in terms of the dynamics of exports, imports, and foreign trade turnover, and determined that despite the failure in the first years of the war, they are also levelling off, and the share of imports in GDP is growing faster than exports. The main risks of trade are summarised, the main of which are: regulatory risks, physical destruction, restrictions on access to certain territories, significant destruction and restrictions on logistics, reduction or suspension of investment projects, risks with counterparties, reduction of the domestic market and deterioration of consumer demand, globalisation processes and the expansion of digital communications. It is determined that the risks faced by entrepreneurship in the field of trade are also new opportunities, due to the likelihood of a rapid pace of resetting the general policy, responding to new business conditions and building a service delivery format appropriate to the circumstances. In further research, it is proposed to reveal the key trends in the global experience of overcoming crises for trade enterprises in order to form the potential for trade turnover growth in Ukraine. In further research, it is proposed to reveal the key trends in the world experience of overcoming crises for trade enterprises in order to form the potential for trade turnover growth in Ukraine.