INTERREGIONAL COOPERATION AS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AMALGAMATED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES IN UKRAINE

Research background: the implementation of the decentralization reform and the strengthening of trends of interterritorial disparities in Ukraine leads to a restructuring of development plans at the amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs) level: their impact on the development of cities, villages for each region separately and for the development of interregional cooperation in general. However, not all ATCs are able to independently determine their strategic priorities and goals, position themselves in the conditions of the internal and external environment. The purpose of the article: provisions of the article provide a step-by-step explanation of the final stage of the ATC Development Strategy, thoroughly expand the Methodological Recommendations for the Development of Program- Targeted Documents for the Socio-Economic Development of Communities (proposed by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, Order No. 75 of 2016/03/30), which determines the relevance and purpose of this article. Methodology/methods: This work is based on the generalization of the official methodological information in Ukraine, on the official normative legal act of Ukraine about the ATC economic development, scientific and practical research of leading scientists and economists on the process of creating an ATC Development Strategy. The methodological basis of ATC strategic planning is the systemic and situational approaches, which include the methods of comparison and analysis, grouping, graphical method of information processing. Value/originality: The provisions of the article reveal the essence of Methodological Recommendations for the Development of Program-Targeted Documents for the Socio-Economic Development of Communities (proposed by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, Order No. 75 of 2016/03/30), pointing to the economic and legal shortcomings of its articles. For the first time in Ukraine, the results of the ATC Development Strategy in the context of interregional cooperation are presented in the step-by-step detailed description. Instructions for each of the next steps of the final stage of the ATC Development Strategy are developed: formulation of the ATC mission; formation of a strategic vision, choice of priorities; formation of strategic and operational goals, definition of tasks for the ATC development; mechanism for realizing the tasks and the most probable scenarios for the ATC development; definition of financial resources; formulating a draft Strategy and holding public hearings to discuss it; consideration of the draft Strategy at the session of the local council, its adoption. The article is summarized by the algorithm, developed by the authors, for the creation and implementation of strategic goals of ATCs in the context of interregional cooperation. The algorithm is aimed at both building the economic potential within the community (traditional approach to strategic planning for the ATC development) and ensuring the development of the economic, social, and environmental spheres at the interregional level, which has been tested on the ATCs in Luhansk region. Practical implications. Results of this article will form the basis for the assistance to various ATCs in Ukraine in the matter of strategic planning since no clear and detailed actions for them have yet been recorded. Also, this work is relevant for representatives of state authorities and scientists who deal with issues of interregional cooperation because no one in Ukraine has ever considered these issues in the context of ATC strategic planning