Retrospective Analysis of Infrastructure Development in Ukraine's Agricultural Sector

The article examines the development of infrastructure support for Ukraine's agricultural sector, which is particularly important in the current context of socio-economic transformation and the integration of the national economy into the international market. The aim of the article is to conduct a retrospective analysis of the development of infrastructure support for Ukraine's agricultural sector. A step-by-step analysis of changes in the structure and functioning of infrastructure elements in the agricultural sector has been carried out, starting from the period before 1991, when agricultural infrastructure was part of the planned economy and focused on supporting the activities of collective and state farms. The study ends with the period from 2022, when the agricultural infrastructure suffered massive losses due to full-scale war: the destruction of elevators, the mining of territories, the blockade of ports, and restrictions on rail transport caused the destabilisation of logistics. Agricultural production indices and their regional distribution are studied in detail. In 2020, the highest indicators were recorded in the Lviv, IvanoFrankivsk, Rivne, and Sumy regions. After 2022, growth is observed in Zakarpattia, Lviv, and Poltava regions, which is associated with the relocation of production to safer regions. The state of transport infrastructure is also analysed: a decrease in the volume of grain transported by rail, conflicts between agricultural companies and Ukrzaliznytsia over tariffs and access to tracks. The restoration of the agricultural sector's infrastructure is only possible if a stable security environment is created, with state support in the areas of financing, investment and regulatory adaptation to European standards. Particular attention is paid to the role of human capital and the need to bring young people back to rural areas as a potential driver of innovation in the industry. The need to integrate the principles of sustainable development into agricultural policy, which should be based on environmental friendliness, energy efficiency and digital transformation, has been formulated.