Agriculture in the Ukraine: Trends and Impacts of Transition

In this paper, I address the current process of redistribution of property rights on land and establishing of new economic relations in Ukrainian agricultural sector and assess opportunities for its sustainable development. While agriculture in the Ukraine should be and still has the potential to become an engine for economic growth, the combination of past exploitation and the slow pace of economic reforms are major obstacles to implementing sustainable agricultural policies. I analyze the problems facing agriculture in the Ukraine under changing conditions and institutions in the context of agricultural policy reforms. Given the right policies and appropriate economic incentives, it may be possible for the country to improve its future agricultural outputs while making the sector economically efficient, socially acceptable and environmental friendly. The research questions are: how does the transition to a market economy affect the agricultural sector and what are the trends, impacts and remedies for promoting its sustainable development? The paper draws on the state of the art in Ukrainian agriculture with new incentives and failures of the agrarian reform in the country during the period from its independence through the end of the second millennium.