Introduction. Agricultural production is a prerequisite for the economic development of the Eastern European countries, which ensures food security of the citizens in the conditions of constantly varying economic environment.Problem Statement. The main condition for the development of the agrarian sector is an established system of selling products at high prices. Therefore, its assessment requires in-depth analysis, with the need for organic and high-quality food products making this problem extremely urgent.Purpose. Studying the current status of agro-food production and food security in the countries of Eastern Europe and the needs in raw materials of interrelated industries of the national economy, which can become a driving force for the development of rural areas; assessing the investment attractiveness of the agricultural sector; and determining the prospects for the development of agro-food production in Eastern Europe.Material and Methods. In this research, we have used systematic approach, comparative analysis, generalization, synthesis and analysis. The sources are statistical reports of international institutions, government and private organizations, scholarly research publications of foreign and domestic researchers.Results. The five elements of agro-food production in Eastern Europe have been identified: availability of resources suitable for agriculture; transformation of land relations; the structure of gross production by branches of agriculture; development of organic agriculture; investment attractiveness of the studied countries. The challenges of the agricultural sector at the middle and lower levels of agriculture have been described.Conclusions. The key prospects for the development of agricultural production in Eastern Europe are: improvement of the agricultural land market, sale of agricultural products in European and international markets, development of innovation through the introduction of modern technologies of agricultural production, development of organic farming, enhancing interest of credit and banking sector in investment projects in the sphere of agricultural production.

Economic growth is exposed to many socio-economic factors that impact both the formation and allocation of resources. The theoretical part of this article discusses studies by various authors on the social expenditure impact on economic growth, the dependence of this influence on selected funding principles and social policy models. In the empirical part, using the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) procedure and the Fixed Effect Model, the impact of social expenditure on the economic growth in OECD countries is determined. An increased focus is put on assessing the long-term impact of the main types of social expenditures (public and private), based on different financing principles (distribution and accumulation), on the economic growth rates both in OECD in general and in the context of countries (based on the Esping-Andersen’s typology) grouped according to social policy models. The following conclusions are drawn: 1) an increase in the share of total social expenditures in the country’s GDP negatively affects economic growth; 2) an increase in the share of private social expenditures in the country’s GDP contributes to economic growth; 3) the obtained indicators of impact assessment are different depending on a social policy model chosen. The analysis is based on OECD panel data for the period 1980–2013.

The article considers the problems of the influence of cooperation on the development of credit resources market for agricultural sector. The analysis of activity of agricultural goods producers of Cherkasy region on capacity of farmland, majority of which are small-scale, has been carried out. Due to limited access to credit resources on credit resources market in general and preferential lending, growth of tax burden in particular, small-scale agricultural companies are in a difficult financial situation, which makes it impossible for them to operate on the principles of self-financing and self-sufficiency. The solution to this problem is possible through the creation of production, service and credit cooperatives and on their basis – the Agrarian Bank. The basic principles of functioning of agricultural cooperatives have been studied. It has been determined that the development of credit cooperation in this sector of the economy is mainly through the prism of lending, while leveling other important functions that can contribute to the sustainable development of small-scale agrarian sector. The peculiarities of the development of agrarian cooperation in Ukraine have been revealed, and functioning of the information-consulting center for consulting farmers has been singled out in the structure of the rural cooperative. It has been found that cooperation is one of the key institutions that will improve the efficiency of agricultural economy. The development of the cooperative movement in Ukraine can be a driving force for qualitative change not only in the agricultural sector but also in the country as a whole. But this requires the combined efforts of villagers, NGOs and government officials. The relevant laws need to be updated, and the very idea of cooperation needs more coverage and discussion. According to the world experience in a market economy, cooperatives are a third force or alternative to public and private enterprise.

Safety and quality of food is an important problem in many countries today, and environmental safety of agricultural products becomes one of the main factors of its competitiveness on domestic and foreign markets. Organic agriculture provides balanced state of the ecosystem that is the key to sustainable economic and social development of society. Development of the organic products market in Ukraine is essential for the formation of organic products supply on the European Union market. The purpose of the article is to determine the place of Ukraine in the formation of supply of the European market organic products. In the world, organic production began to emerge in the 20s of the twentieth century.Ukraine has significant natural and economic potential, which in perspective will become one of the most important subjects that will form the supply on this market. The purpose of the article is to determine the place of Ukraine in the formation of supply of the European market organic products.