Debt Sustainability in Strengthening the Financial Sovereignty of Ukraine.

This article considers the problem of increasing the debt sustainability of Ukraine in the context of country's financial sovereignty maintenance. The analysis of debt processes in Ukraine for 30 years of independence was carried out, the influence of the existing institutional traps in the economy on the debt policy was determined. The following problems were defined as the institutional traps formed in the Ukrainian economy (tax evasion and shadowing of the economy): problems with pumping up the budget, its deficit and financing mainly due to an increase in government debt. The special aspects of the situation in the field of government debt in modern conditions in the world and in Ukraine were identified, the existing approaches to government debt management in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic were identified, which is accompanied by problems of debt complications and may cause deterioration in the financial stability of countries. It is noted that Ukraine is now faced with the problem of excessive debt burden under uncertain conditions of economic growth and is forced to balance between the challenges of fiscal consolidation to reduce the volume of government debt and keep refinancing risks at a moderate level, on the one hand, and the need for fiscal incentives to revive economic activity, on the other. The priorities for increasing the level of debt sustainability of Ukraine are proposed, providing for the improvement of debt policy, in particular, in the direction of optimization of the structure of government debt in terms of ratio of service costs and risks while maintaining an acceptable level of debt burden, taking into account the principles of government debt management: increasing the share of government debt in national currency; extending the average maturity and ensuring a uniform repayment schedule for government debt; attraction of long-term concessional financing; continuation of strong investor relationships development. It is also noted that it is necessary to solve the basic problems of the development of the stock market of Ukraine as a source of available resources for financing current activities and investments; creation of liquid markets for financial instruments and mechanisms to reduce risk thereof; ensuring the modernization, consolidation and development of exchange and depository infrastructure of capital markets. It is substantiated that in order to ensure the financial sovereignty of Ukraine in modern conditions, a transition from conservative to progressive financial stability is required, which, in turn, should be the result of achieving a comprehensive functionality of the financial system. It is also necessary to create perfect institutional mechanisms to ensure coordination of actions of economic management institutions to overcome existing imbalances and prevent the creation of new ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]