The impact of European integration processes on the investment potential and institutional maturity of rural communities

The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of European integration processes in Ukraine on the development of investment potential and institutional maturity of rural communities. As a result of the analysis of strategic documents of all rural communities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Rivne regions, a low level of institutional capacity to attract investments was established. Based on the analysis of the strategies, programs, and investment passports of 79 united territorial communities, it is found that only 39.2% of them have approved development strategies, and 45% of communities have socio-economic development plans. To assess the challenges and threats arising during the process of implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, the author's methodology was developed and the method of expert assessments was applied -the survey involved 75 experts from 20 regions of Ukraine. It is found that there are much more opportunities (59) than threats (17) at the level of rural communities. Such findings, together with low community activity in attracting investment and developing investment attractiveness, indicate that decentralization and new opportunities arising from European integration processes are still underutilized and are a sign of low institutional maturity of rural communities.