CLUSTERING OF THE INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL TRADE BETWEEN UKRAINE AND THE EU

Abstract

The relevance of this study is determined by the necessity to refocus the foreign trade policy of Ukraine and to adjust the agricultural sector of economy to the conjunctural changes on the world agricultural markets. At present, the structure of the foreign trade of Ukraine is changing drastically taking into account economic, social and political circumstances. How can one identify potential partners and single out those that are the most economically feasible for a long-term cooperation? This is one of the most topical issues of the development of the foreign economic activity. The purpose of the article is to identify the main trade partners of agricultural products between Ukraine and the EU. Using the k-means method and the Ward-method, clustering of the trade partners of the EU member countries and Ukraine is carried out. Three cluster groups are singled out and the main factors that have impact on these groups are described.