Financial stability ofcommunities as the basis for the development of strong territories social infrastructure

The article considers the impact of the financial stability of territorial communities on ensuring the stable functioning and development of social infrastructure in rural areas. The purpose of the study is to analyze the financial stability of territorial communities and determine its impact on the development of social infrastructure facilities in rural areas and develop proposals for improving the financial provision of the social sphere. The concept of communities financial stability is generalized and the factors of the external and internal environment that influence it are highlighted. It is argued that the financial stability of communities should be considered in terms of the ability to influence the development of social infrastructure in settlements, on the basis of which the development and modernization of social infrastructure facilities and the improvement of life quality of rural areas residents are achieved. It was found that 495 TCs of the country (or 34.4% of their total number) have a high level of financial stability, 314 TCs (21.8%) - optimal, 200 (13.9%) - satisfactory, 247 (17.2%) - low, and 182 TCs (12.6%) - critical level of stability. It was calculated that 38% of TCs with high financial stability did not experience military operations, and 21% of communities experienced them. Communities with critical financial stability were identified, 35% of communities from regions located in the zone of military operations. It was found that the process of financial provision is difficult in the Zakarpattia region, where 69% of communities are in the group with unsatisfactory and critical financial stability, in Chernivtsi region there are 61.5% of such TCs, in Ivano-Frankivsk - 51.6%, in Ternopil - 40%, and in Volyn - 37%, which is evidence of the unsatisfactory work of local government bodies. It is proven that the majority of TCs have adapted to modern conditions and mostly have the financial capacity to finance expenses for community development, support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, community defense measures, support for IDPs and overcoming the consequences of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. It is calculated that high values of expenses for culture, physical education and sports per capita in 2023 communities of Poltava region spent UAH 669, Kyiv region spent UAH 546, Sumy region spent UAH 564 and Kirovohrad region spent UAH 539, which limits the development of social infrastructure of these territories. However, in partially occupied regions, expenditures under this article were the lowest, which is quite logical, since ensuring the full functioning of communities there is practically impossible. It is proven that the highest expenditures on culture, physical education and sports per 1 inhabitant, namely UAH 1320, were noted by TCs of the seventh group, which also provided high expenditures on the maintenance of the management apparatus per 1 inhabitant - UAH 3159, which indicates the motivation of the effectiveness of local self-government bodies. At the same time, the first and second groups of TCs provided in 2023 payments for culture, physical education and sports per inhabitant only in the amount of 45 and 161 UAH, respectively, which is 3.4 and 12.2% of the similar indicator of the first group of communities. Thus, in problem communities, the social infrastructure is in a critical state, there are no possibilities for its full functioning and renewal, which requires the use of anti-crisis management tools by such TCs and involves the introduction of effective state and regional support. Key words: financial sustainability, territorial communities, social infrastructure, budget expenditures and revenues, expenditures on culture, physical education and sports.