Serhiy Frolov

The paper is devoted to research of existing variants of land reform in Ukraine towards cancelling the moratorium on the sale-purchase of agricultural lands. The authors prove that the financial function of the land is realized insufficiently, which is connected with the absence of open land market and ineffective functioning of state land regulation financial mechanism. The aim of the paper is to substantiate the directions of state land regulation in Ukraine on the basis of evaluating the economic effect of cancelling the moratorium on the sale-purchase of agricultural lands. The authors analyzed three most likely variants of land reform at the current stage of Ukraine’s economy development, and calculated economic effect from its implementation. Based on the calculations, conclusion is made about the feasibility of gradually cancelling the moratorium, which corresponds to third variant under study, which is offered to be implemented in two stages: 1) sale of state and community lands; 2) sale of private lands. Economic effect of implementing such a variant, calculated by the authors, gives a possibility to create additional annual cash flow to local budgets in the amount of 68-83 %, which is more than the revenue of other variants described in the paper. It is proven that for possibility to put the variant offered into practice, it is necessary to observe some prerequisites (organizational, financial, legal and regulatory), valuation of which enabled to offer the directions to improve state land regulation, the realization of which would favor the full functioning of agricultural land market.

In the process of small business establishment and development, it is very important to understand both the financial needs of entrepreneurs and the main obstacles and difficulties arising in the way of financing. Alternative sources of financial support, along with traditional ones, create opportunities to increase funds, but the solution to the issue of their attraction should be based on modern effective methods and decision- making technologies. The article uses the decision tree method to determine the optimal alternative to financial support of small business at the early stages of the life cycle. The results highlight the importance of alternative source of resources for small business entities, namely business angels’ means. The empirical and statistical analysis confirms that access to alternative sources of financing for small businesses in EU countries is improving, while in Ukraine, informal financing is a rather new and underdeveloped area. Based on the analysis of the advantages of using the business angels’ funds, it was concluded that they need to implement their potential in small business of Ukraine. The results show that the decision tree method is an effective tool for deciding on the prioritization of a financial alternative to the small business, and is characterized by ease of use, forecast precision and problems solution novelty.

Due implementation of debtors’ financial solvency assessment models by Ukrainian banks with the aim of calculating the probability of their default (PD) is the next step towards the integration of Ukrainian banking system into global banking community, convergence of methodical approaches to assessing the credit risk with standards of international practice, possibility of using IRB-approach (an approach based on internal ratings) for calculating the regulatory requirements to capital adequacy.
The analysis of approaches to bank credit portfolio segmentation according to types of debtors and debtors’ financial solvency assessment models, depending on the performed segmentation and accumulated bank statistical data, from the point of view of its suitability for Ukrainian banks, will enable the banks to choose the most suitable ones for implementation taking into account nature and complexity of operations performed.
Such approaches will be more adapted to minimum capital requirements, simultaneously agreeing with national supervisory priorities.

The implementation of international standards for the bank risk assessment and market risk, in particular, in Ukrainian banking practice is aimed at achieving common standards for regulating banking activities in different countries. This should help to increase the banking sector stability in Ukraine and, accordingly, increase the interest of foreign investors.
The article deals with the methodological approaches to assessing the bank market risk (in particular, SA, IMA and R-SbM approaches) recommended by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in terms of standardization and unification of the normative framework of capital requirements for Ukrainian banks. Considering the analysis results, it was determined that the choice and implementation of an optimal approach in the context of Ukrainian banking practice can be carried out in one of two alternative scenarios: 1) a simplified version of a sensitivity based method (R-SbM); and 2) a recalibrated version of the Basel II standardized approach. In this case, the Basel II recalibrated version is more acceptable for use by banks, since it is most relevant to volume and complexity of transactions carried out by Ukrainian banks.
The obtained results are aimed at improving the existing methodology for calculating the adequacy ratio of banks' regulatory capital (N2), which currently considers only the needs for credit risk coverage, and at refining the methodology in terms of considering banks' market-risk coverage needs.

General trends of the current stage of development of the world and domestic economies confirm the most important trends of financial systems of the leading countries, including Ukraine. Among them, it is advisable to highlight the following: financial inclusion, formation of an unassailable reputation by financial institutions, reducing the volume of shadow banking, increasing the level of the population’s financial literacy, developing financial technologies, and deepening the financial system. All of this involves increasing the size of financial assets in relation to the size of the economy based on the GDP indicator. Based on the results of generalizing the approaches of scientists to the list of determining factors affecting the development of the country’s financial system, the key role of the level of financial literacy of the population was established. The article presents the total index of financial literacy of the population of individual countries of Europe and the world based on the index components. The development of the financial system in all these areas creates conditions for a gradual transition to the development of a new quality financial ecosystem. The article proposes a definition of the financial ecosystem in the context of established hybrid of real and digital space based on the integration of financial institutions as key players with technology companies, public service providers and other participants. To ensure development, the advantages and disadvantages are specified based on the results of the SWOT analysis, which allowed to systematize the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats of the financial ecosystem development. Based on the results of the analysis, four basic strategies for restructuring the financial system were developed, which are the basis for proposals for the development of the financial ecosystem and changing the business models of functioning of its subjects in Ukraine.

Viewing the development of the stock market in Ukraine, the economy, which world financial organizations characterize as small and open, is largely determined by the trends formed by the global stock markets and leading stock exchanges. Therefore, the study aims to analyze Ukraine’s stock market, the world stock market, stock markets in the regions, and to assess their mutual influence. The study uses the data of the World Federation of Exchanges and National Securities and Stock Market Commission (Ukraine) from 2015 to 2020. Stock market performance forecasts are built using triple exponential smoothing. Based on pairwise correlation coefficients, the existence of a significant dependence in the development of the world stock market on the development of the American stock market was determined. Regarding the Ukrainian stock exchanges, only SE “PFTS” demonstrated its dependence on the US stock market. The results of the regression model based on an exponentially smoothed series of trading volumes in all markets showed that variations in the volume of trading on the world stock market are due to the situation on the US stock markets. Trading volume dynamics on Ukrainian stock exchanges such as SE “PFTS” and SE “Perspektiva” is almost 50% determined by the development of stock markets in the American region. Although Ukraine is geographically located in Europe, the results show a lack of significant links and the impacts of stock markets in this region on the major Ukrainian stock exchanges and the stock market as a whole.

The military actions in Ukraine have actualized the transformation and revision of existing approaches to assessing the country’s economic security. Financial security, which is considered in this paper through its standard components such as financial sector security, stock market security, debt and budget security, has a significant effect on the formation of economic security. At the same time, digitalization in the financial sector was identified as a new component that provides access to financial resources even in the context of the deployment of hostilities in Ukraine. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of the state of financial security, taking into account the importance of financial digitalization for the economic security of Ukraine.
Based on quarterly data for the period 2015–2021, 42 indicators were analyzed, which were grouped according to the relevant components of financial security, and their integral indicators were determined using the Harrington method. A factor analysis of the formation of economic security was carried out using the principal components analysis, and an integral indicator of a country’s economic security was calculated based on the Kinney multiplicative convolution. The integral indicator of economic security for 2025–2021 doubled and amounted to 0.63 units, which was due to the increased influence of financial digitalization processes, all other components either slowly decreased or were stable. Thus, the reserve of economic security that was formed during this period, including due to the intensive digitalization of the financial sector, allowed Ukraine to survive the first weeks of the war and ensure the functioning of the financial system.

Acknowledgment
Comments from the Editor and anonymous referees have been gratefully acknowledged. Inna Shkolnyk and Yevhenii Kozmenko gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (0122U000774 “Digitalization and transparency of public, corporate and personal finance: the impact on innovation development and national security”).

COVID-19 and Russia’s war against Ukraine have created many challenges for the business models of SMEs, stimulating them to develop alternative forms of business. Among the key alternatives, one should single out digitization. However, imperfections of Ukraine’s state support system for digital transformation necessitate adapting the positive practice of leading countries with excellent business digitalization. Therefore, this paper structures the practical experience of state support of European countries in the digitalization of SMEs. The study conducts a cluster analysis to identify countries whose experience in state support for business digitalization is the best for adoption. Clustering employed the criterion of using key digitization instruments: internet of things, integration of business processes into electronic processes, digital integration with customers/suppliers, cloud services, big data analysis, and artificial intelligence. Thus, 4 clusters were identified (the first cluster comprises 16 countries, the second – 2, the third – 5, and the fourth – 7). These findings contributed to the selection of some key measures. They included: expanding the financial capabilities of SMEs to adopt digital technologies in their processes; formation of digital hard skills among entrepreneurs and increasing the personnel potential of SME digitization; creation of a favorable business environment to stimulate the digital activity of SMEs; and popularization of business digitalization strategy as a component of digital transformation strategy in society.

The purpose of the study is to explore the influence of central bank digital currency on stock markets. To realize the purpose, the TVP-VAR model was built, which determines the impact of volatility of the CBDC attention index (CBDCAI) on the volatility of stock market indices. The study uses a time-varying vector autoregressive model that analyzes weekly data from the first week of January 2015 to the first week of July 2023. The endogenous vector to be assessed by VAR contains CBDCAI and stock market indices of different countries (France: CAC 40, The United States of America: S&P 500, Germany: DAX 40, United Kingdom: FTSE 100, China: SSEC, The Netherlands AEX 25, Switzerland: SMI 20, Japan: Nikkei 225, India: NIFTY 50, Brazil: BVSP, South Korea: KOSPI). The results of the TVP-VAR model show that compared to stock market indices, CBDCAI appeared to be relatively independent and isolated. Interdependence and mutual influence between the digital currency market of central banks and stock markets were also revealed. In addition, CBDC functions primarily as a volatility absorber rather than a source of volatility. Despite the overall ability of the CBDC market to absorb fluctuations in volatility, it may also change its function with the widespread adoption of central bank digital currencies in many countries.

The formation and functioning of the country’s financial system depend on many factors, both endogenous and exogenous. The economic system of a country, as a higher-order system in relation to the financial one, underlies the development of the financial system model. The existing model of the financial system becomes significant in the context of its impact on economic processes in the country. The main purpose of the empirical analysis is to confirm the thesis about the signs of the bank-centricity of the Ukrainian financial market. The share of assets of financial intermediaries in GDP is determined, which indicates a significant decrease in the share of assets of all financial intermediaries in Ukraine. Analysis of the loan-to-deposit ratio in the banking system of Ukraine shows that the deposit base was far smaller than the size of loans throughout the analyzed period. Analysis of non-performing loans by economic sectors shows that the largest share of NPLs is formed in the corporate sector of the economy. Analysis of the structure of banks’ assets, taking into account their owners, shows that at the end of the analyzed period the share of state-owned banks’ assets increased significantly. Thus, having analyzed the functioning of the banking system of Ukraine, one can conclude about the bank-centric nature of Ukraine’s financial system.

The creation of deposit insurance systems in world practice has become a tool for solving problems of maintaining the stability of banking systems, increasing customer confidence in banks and other credit institutions, and preventing cases of mass withdrawal of deposits during economic crises. The paper aims to examine why such an important pillar of the banking union as the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) has not yet been implemented. The deadlock in the EDIS negotiations is unprecedented, and the likelihood that the agreement towards this pillar will be reached is rather low. The main reason for its blocking is the existing differences of interests between the main actors, and as a consequence, it makes the progress towards the completion of this process impossible. This study attempts to structure these interests, and it seems that the necessary tool to help bring them together is the concept of moral hazard. The results obtained confirmed the hypothesis that the main barrier for EDIS introduction is the severe difference of interest between countries that can be potentially major contributors and those that hope to benefit from that. Moreover, one of the arguments for such a delay is that cross-border subsidization leads to the problem when the country with better economic indicators pays for the debts of weaker economies as the costs should be socialized.

This paper investigates the interaction between decentralized financial services and the traditional banking system by building VAR models, conducting Granger causality tests, building impulse response functions, and performing variance analysis. To implement the model, banking indicators of the USA, India, and Great Britain were selected: the volume of commercial and industrial loans, interest rate, consumer price index, total liabilities and capital of banks, aggregate deposits, federal funds rate (for the USA), and repo rate (for India). The study examined central bank data of the specified countries from July 2018 to January 2024 with the TVL indicator, which measures the sum of all assets locked in DeFi protocols. The results of the impulse response function (IRF) for countries demonstrate different interactions between TVL and bank indicators. The US response to TVL shocks demonstrates a stimulative monetary policy, with significant Fed rate reductions and increased commercial lending to boost economic activity. In contrast, India’s monetary stimulus, marked by declining repo rates and growth in banking sector liabilities and deposits, aims to enhance economic resilience. The UK, however, adopts a conservative monetary approach, with sharp bank rate increases and mixed lending and deposit responses, prioritizing financial stability. Analysis across these nations highlights different impacts of financial indicators on TVL. In the US, the evolving relationship between TVL and bank indicators reflects the financial system’s complexity. India’s sensitivity to monetary policy, credit conditions, and inflation significantly influences TVL. In the UK, central bank decisions, particularly the bank rate, play a crucial role in financial market dynamics.

Acknowledgment
The authors appreciate the assistance in the preparation of the article provided by the University of Debrecen Program for Scientific Publication and the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

According to the current situation in the world economy connected with the coronavirus pandemic, it is difficult to predict GDP growth. Non-economic factors determine the rate of decline in economies of almost all countries. Accordingly, it is extremely difficult to ensure the stable functioning of financial systems. In this situation, the role of public finance, especially the state budget, significantly increases, given the peculiarities of the formation of different levels’ budgets. This research aims to evaluate state budget structural changes on the example of Ukraine. Based on the linear coefficient and the quadratic coefficient of absolute structural changes, the quadratic coefficient of relative structural changes, and integral coefficients of structural changes the authors analyzed the state of public finance in Ukraine since the formation of the state and local budgets and their optimal use to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the economy can become one of the factors in maintaining financial stability and developing anti-crisis measures. The forecast values of the growth rate of budget revenues and expenditures confirm that the projected revenue gaps are significantly higher than the projected expenditure gaps. The cost structure of the state budget of Ukraine is characterized as a structure with a low level of differences. The Gatev and Ryabtsev coefficients demonstrate unidirectional dynamics. In contrast, Salai coefficient shows the opposite dynamics, which confirms a lack of stability in the cost structure. From 2008 to 2019, the chain rate of change has a significant variation range.