The thesis is devoted to the development of theoretical and methodological foundations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of management of the Ukrainian rural development based on innovation activities stimulating, including activities in the framework of reconstruction and development of their infrastructure. The author interprets the meaning of innovative rural development as a complex process related to the development, implementation and use of innovations, as well as such a development requires infrastructural modernization, transformation of organizational and economic mechanism of management, creation of institutional, organizational and appropriate spatial conditions, and additionally preconditions and factors for rural development using innovations.
The thesis describes theoretical basis of management of rural innovative development, within which: rural development was investigated as an object of innovation management; evolution of theories of innovative development and characteristic features of innovation management were summarized; principles, objectives and tasks of innovative rural development were distinguished.
The paper also assesses the methodological foundations of management of rural innovative development, in the context of which: a critical study of methodological tools for assessing the development of rural areas in Ukraine was conducted; tendencies in approaches to the management of innovative rural development were described; critical assessment of models and methods of rural sustainable development was made on the basis of infrastructure availability.
Analysis of the current state of rural development in the world and in Ukraine has revealed their increasing role in the socio-economic systems of the world. Besides, their uneven development depends on the economic development of the country. Trends and problems of rural development were localized based on the division of the world into four groups, according to the size of their GDP per capita (economically developed countries (more than 20 thous. USD), countries-followers (from 10 to 20 thous. USD); countries developing their economic systems (from 5 to 10 thous. USD); countries-outsiders (less than 5 thous. USD). Trends and problems of the development of Ukrainian rural areas were identified by using the analysis of statistical and other information on Ukrainian rural areas in 2007-2017. Prerequisites for the rural development were defined taking into account the identified trends of development of Ukrainian rural areas and their current state. Special emphasis was put on the complexity and diversity of such a development, as well as on the need of innovations generation and implementation, in particular in the framework of the rehabilitation and development of its infrastructure.
Within the use of innovative approaches and tools of stimulating the development of rural areas in Ukraine, methods for assessing the impact of the competitive environment on the management of innovative development of rural areas in Ukraine and infrastructure of Ukrainian rural areas were developed; institutional aspects of infrastructure availability for innovative rural development were described; directions of the development of Ukrainian rural areas on the basis of innovation in infrastructure were shaped. According to the calculations on the developed methods, the following facts were proved: the competitive environment has a negative, close to critical, impact on the management of innovative development of rural areas in Ukraine; there is poor development of rural infrastructure both in the whole country and in its regions. Separately, following the experience of the European Union, as one of the directions of development of rural areas in Ukraine, it was suggested to concentrate all the main functions of innovation management in the country within the new national institution - the State Agency for Innovation and Development (SAID).
In the context of instruments formation and implementation needed for stimulating the development of rural areas in Ukraine, an integrated system of management of innovation development of rural areas in Ukraine was developed founded on the innovations implementation in infrastructure; organizational and economic mechanism for stimulation the innovative development of rural infrastructure was formed; the role of agricultural cooperation as a mechanism for stimulation the innovative rural development was defined; components and conditions of implementation of the system of information and consulting support of innovative development were explained. It was proved that the key component of the proposed system of information and consulting support of the development of innovation activity in rural areas should be the State Agency for Innovation and Development.
