INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF METALLURGICAL ENTERPRISES IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article investigates the innovative development of metallurgical enterprises in Ukraine. It is argued that Ukraine needs a new development model to ensure its economic growth by boosting high technology production and export, by meeting international quality standards in manufacturing against tending to rely on export of raw materials. The above focus shift should lay the basis for the innovative stage of the national economic development and building appropriate infrastructure. The key objective in achieving sustainable development has to be increasing the demand for innovations among companies and, as an effect, the transformation to innovative economy. Metallurgy is a major sector of the economy since it creates about 30% of GDP and provides 40% of currency earnings. The importance of metal industry in the national economy stems from the fact that metallurgy provides raw materials for other sectors: engineering, transport and construction industries. The metallurgy complex capacity is based on the availability of raw materials in Ukraine, a large number of manufacturing facilities, and is characterized by a high level of scientific and technical potential. However, in recent years a range of negative economic, industrial and political factors in Ukraine have led to the decline of the metallurgical industry of the country. Ukraine’s metallurgy industry is rich in extensive deposits of manganese and iron ores which are the main raw materials for metal production. A major problem that hinders the transfer of research results from scientific and higher education institutions to industrial enterprises is the lack of financial, credit and tax mechanisms in Ukraine to support the research results transfer and dissemination, as well as certain legislative fund use restrictions. It is emphasized that the availability of skilled labor force, well-developed industrial culture, research and R&D centers network are critical in enhancing the performance of metal enterprises. The research findings have revealed that the innovation environment is still at its early development stage, and in this context Ukraine is lagging behind other developed countries.