International Trade Networks in the Processes of Concentration in the Food Market (FMCG) of Ukraine
The goal of the article is to study the state and tendencies of development of the processes of consolidation and concentration of the market power in the retail market of Ukraine, assessment of concentration of international trade FMCG networks and analysis of influence of the said process upon the competitive environment of the domestic sphere of retail goods turnover. The article analyses and systemises scientific works of Ukrainian and foreign scientists, which helps to define theoretical grounds of such notions as “market concentration” and “capital concentration” and select the methodical instruments for measuring the level of concentration through indices of concentration for different quantities of economic subjects and Herfindahl–Hirschman Index. The article identifies a multi-vector trend of the processes of concentration in the retail food market of Ukraine in the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods: from activation to stabilisation and stagnation. It finds out that the Ukrainian food market is characterised with a number of specific features: relatively low level of concentration if compared with other European countries, predominance of representatives of the domestic business in it and negative dynamics of values of indicators of concentration of international capital in the retail FMCG market of Ukraine. The prospect of further studies in this direction is the issue of consequences of influence of the process of concentration and corporate consolidation with participation of trade networks of non-residents upon the retail FMCG market of Ukraine. Trans-border mergers and acquisitions with participation of foreign and national corporate structures in the sphere of foreign trade, their generic and geographic structures, motivation nature, mechanisms of corporate management, innovation component of corporate strategies from the point of view of their influence upon standards of the business and consumer behaviour require a deep analysis.