MODERN TRANSFORMATION OF UKRAINE’S FOREIGN TRADE

Abstract

The article examines the modern transformation of Ukraine’s foreign trade as a systemic process that simultaneously changes its commodity structure, geographical orientation, institutional environment, logistics, security mechanisms and digital architecture. The relevance of the study is determined by the combined influence of the full-scale war, the reconfiguration of global value chains, the deepening of European integration and the rapid spread of digital trade instruments. The purpose is to deepen the theoretical interpretation of foreign trade transformation, systematise its evolutionary stages and identify the principal contours and mechanisms of the current changes in Ukraine. The research methodology combines the historical and logical method, a systemic approach, structural and functional analysis, comparative analysis, content analysis of scientific publications and regulatory documents, and analytical generalisation of official trade and customs statistics. The study develops a periodisation that distinguishes the stages of institutional formation, global trade integration, European reorientation, pandemic-driven digital acceleration, and wartime adaptive and digital integration. It is established that the current stage cannot be interpreted only as a change in export and import volumes. Its defining feature is the interaction of structural, geographical, institutional, logistical, digital and security-related shifts. The commodity composition of exports remains concentrated in food products, agricultural raw materials and metals, while import dependence on machinery, transport equipment, energy and chemical products has increased. At the same time, the European Union has consolidated its role as the main trade and regulatory space for Ukraine. The practical value of the results lies in their applicability to the development of trade, customs, logistics and digital policies aimed at strengthening export capacity, reducing transaction barriers, improving interoperability with the European Union and increasing the resilience of foreign trade under wartime and post-war conditions.