The article is devoted to the study of the digitalization of financial and economic processes in 2025, its impact on economic development, and the identification of the main problems and prospects. Digitalization is defined as a strategic factor of modernization of the state, which includes the introduction of the latest information and communication technologies into production processes, business management and public administration. The authors investigate how digital tools increase the efficiency of production and the development of the economy as a whole, optimize business processes, reduce administrative costs, promote transparency and quality of public services, and stimulate the development of innovative sectors of the economy. The article analyzes the latest scientific publications and reports, which indicate that a comprehensive approach to digital transformation in the form of a combination of state initiatives, investments in business, the implementation of digital platforms and the use of international experience will ensure increased productivity, competitiveness and integration of the country into the global economy. Particular attention is paid to the impact of digitalization on the economy: increasing the productivity and efficiency of enterprises and state bodies, stimulating innovation, developing startups and the high-tech sector, attracting investment, improving public services and the social sphere, as well as integrating Ukraine into global economic processes. Key problems of digitalization are identified. A set of recommendations is proposed to overcome these problems, including the development of digital education, infrastructure development, improving cybersecurity, adapting legislation and using international experience. The article demonstrates that strategic digitalization is a critically important factor in Ukraine’s sustainable economic growth, increasing its competitiveness at the international level and forming a high-tech sector as a driver of the country’s innovative development.

This article explores the transformation of the European Union’s trade policy in the context of mounting global economic and security challenges. In recent years, the EU has increasingly linked its external trade instruments with broader goals of economic security, industrial sovereignty, and geopolitical influence. The analysis focuses on how trade policy has evolved from a liberal, multilateral orientation towards a more strategic, defensive, and selective approach. Special attention is paid to the development and implementation of trade regulatory instruments such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, investment screening, export controls on dual-use goods, and the newly introduced Anti-Coercion Instrument. These tools serve to protect strategic sectors—including critical technologies, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing—from unfair foreign practices and from overreliance on third-country suppliers. The article further examines the EU’s efforts to reduce critical dependencies by diversifying its trade and investment partnerships through free trade agreements (FTAs), strategic raw materials cooperation, and connectivity initiatives such as the Global Gateway. The notion of “open strategic autonomy” is analyzed as a conceptual framework that seeks to reconcile the EU’s commitment to open markets with the need to protect vital interests and build resilience in the face of geo-economic disruptions. The study highlights four priority areas of EU trade policy adaptation: expanding rules- based trade with like-minded countries, ensuring security of supply for essential goods and technologies, strengthening domestic and European value chains, and using trade instruments to promote sustainability and digital transformation. These priorities are contextualized within the broader debate on the EU’s capacity to act as a geoeconomic power amid rising protectionism and strategic competition between major global actors. Ultimately, the article argues that trade policy is becoming an essential pillar of the EU’s economic security strategy. By embedding economic resilience, regulatory sovereignty, and political unity into its external trade framework, the EU aims to reinforce its global position while safeguarding internal cohesion in an increasingly unstable international environment.

This integrated study explores the diverse effects and the intricate history of protectionist policy impacts in relation to trade and economic development. The article carefully narrates the rise of protectionism as a recurring economic policy adopted during the tender phases of national economic depression, preceeding it’s emergence from the mercantilist practices of the European World Powers of the 16th and 17th century. The policy frameworks were mostly shaped by the interwoven logic behind state regulation of foreign trade intended to defend a nations economic welfare from international competition. One of the main look was for the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which is suggested as a case study of history caused by aggressive protective policies. The artickle examines the retelling of this legislation, that enacted tariffs and duties on over 20,000 imported products, which had set off bans and restrictions on trade by Canada, Britain, and Germany. The chain reaction of such trade restrictions as punitive tariffs resulted the lowest point in trade history when volume of global trade fell by 66% from 1929 and 1934, rapidly changing what could’ve merely been an economical low from the Great Depression. The statistics trade pourposes during this timeframe, such as the drop of American imports from Europe from 1929 to 1932 shows how desperate consequences of protective policies can be. Despite these historical warnings, the article demonstrates that contemporary states continue to implement protectionist measures, often disregarding the economic lessons of the past in favor of short-term political advantages. The study offers in-depth comparative analyses of modern protectionist such as “America First” agenda in USA, China’s “Made in China 2025” industrial program and India’s “Make in India” initiatives. Through careful cross-sectional comparison of key economic indicators, particularly GDP growth and employment figures from 2016 to 2023, the study evaluates the effectiveness of these varying protectionist strategies against their stated objectives. So, the findings shows that while protecting certain industries might help them out for a bit, it’s not a great plan in the long run. It usually backfires and weakens the whole economy, which is the opposite of what states want. This adds to the discussion about how much we should open up markets versus protecting our own stuff, especially now that the world is so connected.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of the activities of commercial banks in Ukraine during the period of full-scale war. Its purpose is to identify new trends in banking activity and substantiate recommendations for restructuring the work of banks and its state regulation in the post-war period. During the study, a number of hypotheses were tested. It is proved that despite the significant number of commercial banks in Ukraine, the banking services market is actually oligopolistic. Taking into account the fact that state-owned banks, whose share in the total assets of commercial banks reaches 56%, actually pursue a coordinated policy and act as a single entity, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index for the banking sector of Ukraine is more than 3000, which corresponds to an oligopolistic market. This situation is justified for martial law, but it will require changes in the post-war period. The hypothesis that the main factor affecting the size of commercial banks’ assets is monetary aggregates was confirmed. The closest correlation was found between the size of assets and the monetary aggregate M2. This gives reason to recommend regulating this monetary aggregate as a tool for state regulation of banking assets. During the full-scale war, the tendency to change the structure of banking assets, which originated back in 2020, intensified. A sharp decrease in the share of loans granted was noted, while the share of debt securities, mainly government bonds, increased. On the one hand, this is evidence of the success of the implementation of government programs to attract funds from commercial banks for borrowing and covering the state budget deficit, and on the other hand, it distracts the banking system from fulfilling its main function - mobilizing temporarily free funds and providing loans. The high yield of government bonds, the NBU discount rate, which significantly exceeds the inflation rate, make loans inaccessible to business. And since other components of the market infrastructure (for example, joint investment institutions) are underdeveloped in Ukraine, business is actually deprived of the opportunity to attract funds for the implementation of investment projects. A study of the dynamics of bank performance indicators (ROA, ROE) for the period from 2008 to 2024 showed that after the banking crisis of 2015-2018, when the banking system as a whole operated at a loss, in the following years the situation not only stabilized, but also demonstrated that banks received excess profits. This is again a consequence of high interest rates on government securities and the concentration of profits in state-owned banks. Substantiated proposals for changes in state policy in the post-war period, which should revive the lending activities of commercial banks.

The article examines the features of choosing and building modern organizational structures of enterprise management. On the basis of the systematization of modern concepts of the formation of types of organizational structures of enterprise management, the most acceptable structures according to the process-oriented models of enterprise development and the influence on the choice of digitalization of the main activity processes were selected. It was established that the formation of organizational management structures should be considered through the prism of horizontal (flat), vertical and flexible hierarchies. Trends in the use of information and communication technologies at enterprises have been studied regarding the possibilities of digitalization and its impact on economic development. The degree of access of domestic enterprises to the Internet and the use of fixed access to it, as well as the share of employed workers who have access to the Internet of hired specialists for whom information and communication technologies are the main job, are analyzed. The peculiarities of the flat hierarchy are considered and its main characteristics are highlighted. In Ukraine, the openness of information about the company’s activities is quite limited for employees, and therefore the introduction of holacracy, which is acceptable for small and medium-sized enterprises in the service sector, is promising in the future. It was established that the vertical hierarchy in the organizational structure of enterprise management is a typical and traditional model of management, the advantages and disadvantages of the structure were determined. The concentration of power in the owner is one of the main characteristics of a vertical management structure, so owners usually choose this type of enterprise management structure. The characteristics of the vertical hierarchy are highlighted. A flexible hierarchy positioned as an adaptive structure, characterized by greater flexibility in the interaction between different levels of management, is singled out as a modern organizational structure. The main types of adaptive organizational management structures are matrix, project, program-target and coordination. The peculiarities of the types of organizational structures of enterprise management according to the process-oriented approach are compared and a number of characteristics of the positive influence of digitalization on their choice are highlighted. Demonstrably positive results of the impact of digitalization on the horizontal, vertical and flexible organizational structure of enterprise management. The shortcomings of flat, vertical and flexible hierarchies were studied and it was proved that in order to ensure the dynamic and progressive development of business entities, it is expedient to combine elements of different structures.