Nataliia Naumenko

The world tendencies of spatial development, namely the availability of limited resources (primarily water) and the growth of the world’s food needs focus on the resource specialization of the region. On this basis, the purpose of the article is to study the impact of the water-capacious economy on the economic development of the country and its regions. The study used the traditional and special methods, including: historical and logical method – to analyze the functioning of regional socio-economic systems under limited water resources; and system analysis methods – to evaluate the impact of the water-capacious economy on the economic development of the country and its regions. The research results have important implications for the management of the territories. The authors show that the production specialization of the regions of Ukraine on the export/import of water-capacious products is not determined by their water supply. They also suggest that stimulating the region’s water-efficient activity should lead to a minimization of the water capacity of gross regional product and the reproduction of water capital, taking into account the water security of the regions. The authors also show that the water resources of the country and its regions and the natural water potential of the territories in the current situation become significant restriction to the economic development of territories, which allows to state the need to change the approaches to the regulation of regional development based on limited water resources.