Abstract
Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022 and now continues, has resulted in significant destruction. This destruction has also affected food industry enterprises. When assessing losses, the damage to the agro-industrial complex as a result of military action should be taken into account. B. Danilyshyn [1] has calculated the possible losses of the economy and notes that as a result of the «territorial removal» of Ukrainian regions from the normal process of economic reproduction, these losses of Ukraine in annual terms can be significant. For example, a drop in GDP production - 46%; export revenues - 48%; capital investment - 45%.
The experts of the Finance Club [2] have calculated two scenarios and concluded that the worst case scenario assumes a 52 per cent fall in industry, a 45 per cent fall in agriculture, and a 52 per cent fall in exports. Under this scenario, Ukraine's GDP may drop by 31 per cent.
According to Ukrinform, citing a monetary survey by the National Bank [3], at the beginning of May 2022, 60% of enterprises were working below their prewar level of utilisation, almost 23% more than doubled. At the end of April, the largest number of enterprises was operating in the agricultural sector. The machine-building sector has also suffered numerous losses, as some factories in the south and east have been destroyed. Food processing companies in the western regions are already operating at full capacity. The liberated regions of Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv are actively resuming production. The decline in consumer demand in the industry is partially offset by government orders. In the first six weeks of the war the total loss of the Ukrainian economy exceeded 500 billion dollars, and in the long run this figure may rise to 1 trillion dollars.
It has been revealed that in the eastern and southern regions most affected by the military invasion, dozens of food processing enterprises have been almost completely destroyed, and in parts of Kherson, Zaporozhye regions, which are under temporary Russian occupation as of mid-May 2022, these enterprises have virtually ceased operations. Now some of the enterprises that are located in the frontline zone have moved or are being relocated to central and western regions that are relatively safe and where it is possible to continue operations. Given the significant adverse conditions and the problematic operation of the food processing companies, the topic of finding financial resources to ensure rhythmic operation is relevant.
The aim of the study is to find sufficient financial resources for food enterprises and the effective management of these resources, and the object is the volume of these financial resources in enterprises. The theoretical basis includes the choice of the main method of research, the analysis of the pragmatics of these enterprises under martial law, the generalisation of internal and external sources of funding the functioning of enterprises, the definition of the features of the financial content and the formation of recommendations for the effective use of financial resources.
Let us define the systematic method of research as the main one, as it allows us to study complex open systems in an unbalanced state. Such system is a set of food processing enterprises forming food processing industry, and having signs of system.
Let us assess the pragmatics of those enterprises that are still in operation and identify the following features along the lines. Technical - partially damaged production capacity, rising energy prices, disruption of component materials. Logistical - blocked ports, damaged roads and railways, insufficient transport to bring in raw materials and ship finished goods. Raw materials - loss of part of the agricultural land, reduced crop yields, the threat of losing part of the harvest, which is a raw material for processing plants. Marketing - disruption of traditional trade relations with internal external partners, problems in forming the final price at the destination of finished product delivery, difficulty in selecting a safe logistics route. Administrative - curfew, outflow of relevant specialists for various reasons. Note that Russian military aggression will make certain adjustments to the above features.
These peculiarities form other conditions for the functioning of food industry enterprises and consequently the sources of financial resources. In this context, we will present a list of these resources, which were formed during the martial law period.
I. Internal.
1. Own monetary resources of food enterprises.
2. Bank loans.
3. Loans from other monetary institutions.
4. Budgetary support.
5. Grants, sponsorship.
6. Confiscated funds of residents of the aggressor country on the territory of Ukraine.
7. Other financial resources, depending on the location of the enterprise and the specifics of its functioning.
II. External.
1. Traditional grants, support programmes, etc., which have been and continue to be provided by national governments, national financial agencies, etc.
2. Targeted financial support from national governments in relation to Russian military aggression.
3. Selected support programmes from international organisations, including financial ones, including FAO, the World Bank.
4. Targeted financial support to economic partners.
5. Part of the funds expected to be received as appropriate compensation from the aggressor country according to the decisions of the authorised bodies.
The characterisation of these sources under the state of war currently ongoing in Ukraine is presented without specifying parameters and only on the basis of the information that is publicly available. After clarifying the list of these resources, let us present their relevance and the reality of their use in the current context. Among the most significant domestic sources, the most reliable are its own sources, but they decline significantly in times of warfare.
Thus, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine [4], the profitability of food enterprises in 2020 was 20-30% depending on the industry, but according to a number of negative factors of external and internal environment in 2022 it will decrease at least by half. In assessing this situation, it can be assumed that the amount of these funds will only be enough to maintain the capacity of enterprises. There is almost no money left for the expansion of production.
Budgetary resources should be an important source. Let us note that in war conditions they have a peculiarity of their own. In this context we will present the view of B. Danilishin [5] who has revealed the situation with economic resources of Ukraine. He emphasized the need to rethink how our country will develop in the future. Which sectors can become the basis for growth after the war? What solutions and resources are needed to increase the level of processing in Ukraine and not to trade in raw materials as it used to be? In a war economy, the government's ability to finance the state budget from tax revenue is objectively limited. This is a consequence of the physical destruction of the productive capacity of the economy and the destruction of its human resources. Therefore, the structure of sources is shifting in favour of loans and international aid from partner countries and international organisations, and the share of grants is increasing. Part of the needs have to be financed through the monetisation of public debt. Ukraine's confiscated assets and reparations from Russia should be a potentially significant new source of state budget resources in the future.
The Ukrainian government has amended legislation to support food enterprises [6]. Legislation provides for partial reimbursement of the cost of construction or reconstruction of livestock farms and complexes, fish farms, milking halls, and agricultural product processing enterprises. The amount of reimbursement is up to 50 per cent of the cost excluding value added tax. For agricultural cooperatives, up to 70 per cent of the cost, excluding value-added tax, of equipment built or reconstructed and commissioned in November-December of last year and January-October of this year. Also supported are the completed construction of facilities, installations or start-up complexes and partial reimbursement of the cost of construction or reconstruction of livestock farms and complexes, milking parlors, agro-processing facilities in terms of costs financed without value added tax through bank loans.
Financing from external sources is now occasional in insignificant amounts, but this direction will increase in the future.
Based on the results of the analysis of the situation of Ukrainian food enterprises, we will identify the following features of financial content management.
1. Significant decrease in the volume of own financial resources, which does not contribute to the expansion of production.
2. Violation of logistical links on the import of raw materials, components, consumables and packaging materials leads to a decrease in the profitability of production.
3. Staffing problems don't contribute to renewal of production lines and development of new products, which, combined with other reasons, cause insufficient competitiveness of the products on domestic and foreign markets.
4. Insignificant and narrowly tailored budget support programmes do not provide opportunities for expanded reproduction of the functioning of food enterprises.
At the same time, it should be noted that under the conditions of a military state, the main financial resources in Ukraine are allocated for the needs of our military formations, as well as for humanitarian needs, therefore it is necessary to intensify the efforts of the management of these enterprises on the effective use of real financial sources. To solve this important task, the following directions are proposed.
1. Formation of new partnerships with suppliers of raw materials, all additional materials, logistic structures and trade networks, which will allow to stabilize the production and sale of products.
2. Search for new production schemes oriented to new volumes of consumption, taking into account the balance of corresponding types of production, which will provide the guaranteed sale of products.
3. Active monitoring of internal and external sources of financial resources, contributing to the rhythm of production.
4. Increased cooperation mechanisms with local and foreign partners for production programmes, which leads to an optimisation of production.
5. The development of new technologies and types of products, determining the additional financial resources to support the functioning of enterprises.
From the executed research conclusions are drawn that functioning of food enterprises of Ukraine in the conditions of martial law depends on many factors, but effective management of financial resources is determinative. These resources are considerably less compared to the pre-war period, but the management of these enterprises under extremely difficult conditions must find ways to replenish them and use them effectively. The proposals made should contribute to solving this problem.
Keywords
References
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