Economic Activity of Milk Processing Enterprises in Food Industry of Ukraine

Introduction. An integral part of a complete human diet, especially in children and the elderly, is the consumption of dairy products that contain essential nutrients in such quantities and forms that are no longer found in any other food - milk protein and fat, lactose, lactic acid bacteria, enzymes, minerals, vitamins A and D, etc. Dairy industry is an extremely important sector of social production, which performs not only an important economic function. Purpose. Research of features of economic activity of milk processing enterprises in the food industry of Ukraine. Results. The article conducts a study that revealed a declining trend in the number of dairy plants in Ukraine, which generally increase the production of dairy products. It has been established that the number of dairy cattle, the production of raw milk and its income to processing enterprises is steadily declining. Based on a comparative analysis of the range of dairy products and its imports, it is concluded that a significant share of imported products is imported into Ukraine in large containers, packaged in domestic enterprises and sold as products of Ukrainian dairies. It is claimed that the reason for the increase in butter production while reducing the production of raw milk is in many cases its falsification - the replacement of milk fat with palm oil. Conclusions. The trend of changing the number of milk processing enterprises is a mirror image of the general trend in the food industry of Ukraine - in general, a declining trend with so far unstable growth since 2017. The production of many types of dairy products is growing. The reason for the increase in butter production while reducing the production of raw milk is in many cases its falsification - the replacement of milk fat with palm oil. Economic activity of Ukrainian dairies, in terms of forming the raw material base, is to expand the import of cheap European dairy products used as raw materials and replace milk fat with palm oil. This leads to the continuation of the curtailment of their cooperation with domestic milk producers, which is one of the main reasons for the reduction of its production. Keywords: industrial enterprises, milk processing industry, food industry, dairy raw materials, dairy products, import, counterfeiting, palm oil.