<b>Ukrainian-French relations in the regional dimension: Dnipro Region and France in the 1950s – 1980s</b>

The purpose of the article is to determine the main directions of Ukrainian-French relations in the 1950s – 1980s on the example of the Dnipro region, using published and unpublished sources, the results of the latest researches by Ukrainian and French historians. The regional component of relations between the Ukrainian SSR and France is considered in the national (union) and republican (Ukrainian) context. Research methods: historical and chronological, historical and genetic, comparative, descriptive. Main results. It has been found that the period of relations between the Ukrainian SSR and France in the 1950s – 1980s is one of the less studied, specifically at the regional level. At the new stage of Soviet-French relations in the mid-1950s, the “double image” – “France of the capitalists” and “France of the workers” was formed in the press by the means and tastes of Soviet propaganda and supplemented by original “local” stories from the history of Soviet/ Ukrainian-French relations. Cultural ties were fragmented, and the conditionally closed status of Dnipropetrovsk as the region’s center, excluded it from tourist routes and humanitarian ties. The Ukrainian SSR was included in the programmes of cooperation between the USSR and France, where the Dnipropetrovsk region occupied a leading position in economic relations, primarily in the field of metallurgy, although the effectiveness of these ties does not seem to be equivalent. An important project involving enterprises of the Dnipropetrovsk region was the International Fair in Marseille in 1959 and 1960. Cooperation with French companies – leaders in the steel industry (SOLLAC, Usinor, Solmer, Dunkerque), ties between trade unions of the metallurgical industry of Kryvyi Rih and France (Lorraine) contributed to learning about the economic and social problems of France and Ukraine, the USSR, national characteristics, and cultural peculiarities of their population. Conclusions. The regional dimension of Ukrainian-French relations proves their dependence on the union centre, reveals the mechanisms of this dependence, the impact of relations with France on the development of Ukrainian industry, and the formation of mutual perceptions of the countries. The practical significance of the study is determined by the possibility of using its results to continue scientific research, prepare teaching materials for teaching, and implement regional programs of Ukrainian-French cooperation in various fields. The scientific novelty of the study lies in expanding the information base of regional and local history research, identifying a number of issues for the study of Ukrainian-French relations in a broader thematic context. Type of article: theoretical, descriptive.