Scientific seminar “Funding the smart specialization of the regions: EU vs Ukraine”

On March 30, 2021, lecturers of the Department of Financial Management and magister students of the educational program “Finance, Customs and Taxation” had the opportunity to attend an online scientific seminar “Funding the smart specialization of the regions: EU vs Ukraine.” The speaker was a senior researcher at the Institute of Regional Studies named after M.I. Dolishnyy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, associate professor Dub A.  He focused on smart specialization – a scientific and practical direction, which is present since 2021 in the development strategies of the regions of Ukraine. This is a kind of concept and policy of innovative regional development of the European Union, which promotes economic growth in the regions through better disclosure of their potential.

The seminar gave a comparison of sources and amounts of funding for smart specialization in Ukraine and the European Union; the structure of this financial support was considered, as well as thematic areas funded in the EU within the framework of smart specialization of regions. Nevertheless, summing up the results of the scientific seminar, the questions still remain: “Will all regions of Ukraine be able to attract funds on a competitive basis to finance programs in the field of smart specialization and, using them effectively, increase the competitiveness of their regional economy?” We will be able to get answers to the question by implementing our own research topics and projects.

Smart specialization is based on a partnership between representatives of business, government, scientific and technical institutions and the public. The peculiarity of this policy is that the government encourages and stimulates entrepreneurs, science and developers to better cooperate with business to reveal the main areas and sectors of specialization of the region. Such accents are connected with the work and strategic goals of the researchers of the Department of Financial Management in the field of scientific research, as well as in the field of cooperation with our partners – scientific institutions and educational institutions of Ukraine.