Financial determinants of ensuring the resilience of Ukrainian regions

Abstract

Financial resilience is the basis of economic development as it determines the ability of the financial system to efficiently perform its functions and ensure optimal resource allocation and the normal course of economic processes under the impact of macroeconomic shocks and endogenous risks. The article aims to assess financial resilience as a systemic component of ensuring the economic development of Ukrainian regions. The research methods include systemic and structural analysis (building an information and analytical model for studying financial resilience), clustering (grouping regions by the criterion of economic development), and risk theory and analysis of variance (identifying potential zones of financial resilience and its components). Data from the regions (oblasts) of Ukraine for 2015–2021 serve as the information and analytical basis of the study. The article reveals that in 2021 regions with better financial resilience (Zhytomyrska, Dnipropetrovska, Kyivska, Lvivska, Odeska, Kharkivska, Cherkaska, and Volynska oblasts) take leading positions in terms of economic development and more efficient use of exogenous and endogenous financial resources than the regions with low financial resilience (Chernivetska, Vinnytska, Khmelnytska, Donetska, Ternopilska, and Ivano-Frankivska oblasts). The study proves that enhancing financial resilience is a trigger and foundation for ensuring economic growth in the regions, especially amid macroeconomic shocks. Balancing the need to use financial resources to restore the economy (growth of production, consumption, and employment) while reducing the dependence of regional economies on external financial sources should become the main vector of policy to ensure the financial resilience of Ukrainian regions.