STUDY OF THE FOREIGN TRADE SECURITY OF REGIONS IN THE FACE OF EXTERNAL THREATS

Global challenges, primarily related to the war in Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have exacerbated the issue of the resilience of national economies to changes in the external environment. Security factors are becoming decisive in the formation of economic development strategies, the implementation of foreign policy, and the implementation of export-import operations. The ramifications and scale of global supply chains remain a tangible challenge for most countries of the world and their regions. Today, most participants in foreign economic activity are trying to reduce existing risks by diversifying the product range, expanding the circle of trade partners at the expense of “friendly” countries, etc. This situation highlights the importance of assessing the foreign trade security of regions to strengthen the country's economic resilience in conditions of a sharp decline in export potential, disruption of established logistics supply chains, the underdevelopment of border infrastructure for freight transportation, the prevalence of raw materials in the export structure, the lack of human resources, the aggravation of the general security situation, etc. The aim of the article is to develop a methodological approach for assessing the foreign trade security of regions in conditions of external challenges and to test it on the example of the regions of Ukraine. The taxonomic analysis method was used to assess the foreign trade security of the regions of Ukraine and to study its current risks and challenges. Based on the systematic comparative analysis of foreign trade security of the regions of Ukraine used in the work, a rating assessment of the regions of the country has been carried out, which allows to determine the position of each region among other Ukrainian regions in terms of the level of foreign trade security, to reveal factors affecting the dynamics of changes in the main security indicators, to identify the features of the economic development of each region and their resilience in the face of external threats. The results of the research will be useful both for researchers in the field of foreign economic activity and for economic security and politicians in the field of trade and economic policy.