Rostislav Botvinov

Hostilities in eastern Ukraine have highlighted the need for accelerated transformation of Ukrainian armed forces and strengthening country’s defense capabilities. Ukraine is an active consumer and exporter of weapons, so it needs to improve constantly its position in the international arms market, which, by the way, unlike most markets suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, is constantly growing. The study aims to assess the prospects of Ukraine’s integration into the world arms market to secure its armed forces and achieve the highest possible level of arms exports. Methods of comparative analysis and integrated approach were used in the study. The obtained results demonstrated that Ukrainian arms export has fallen dramatically in recent years (from 1501 million USD in 2012 to 115 million USD in 2020); the largest importers were China (36% of Ukraine’s total arms exports), Russia (20%), and Thailand (17%). The main explanation for this is the necessity of transition to more technological weapons. Concerning weapon imports, Turkey, the USA, Great Britain, Poland, and Bulgaria became the main suppliers. It is about ammunition, electronics, including electronic warfare stations, means of communication, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, etc. The study substantiated that Ukraine should implement joint projects with other countries to fully develop its high-tech weapons in accordance with the latest military technologies.

Public debt plays a crucial role in the economic development of many countries, the effective management and servicing of the external public debt have become a priority in the financial and economic policy of the state, ensuring the stability of its development. The article aims to develop Ukraine’s external public debt management system during the wartime. As a result of the analysis, the key negative consequences of the impact of external debt growth on Ukraine`s economic security were determined, i.e. economic growth slowdown, increased dependence on creditors, increased costs of the public debt servicing, significant reduction in domestic consumption, etc. The developed external public debt management system in the framework of state economic and financial security includes relevant subsystems, principles, functions, objects and subjects, methods. It was substantiated that the appropriate external public debt management system during wartime in Ukraine requires the following additional subsystems: subsystem of crisis planning and response, subsystem of external debt settlement and subsystem for ensuring international cooperation.

This study undertakes a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of publications pertaining to the external public debt management system. The paper aims to study the evolution of scholarly discourse surrounding the external public debt management domain, highlighting contributions, methodologies, and collaborative networks within the field. The methodology encompasses a multivariate approach, incorporating extensive searches across the three major scientometric databases: Google Scholar (PoP), Scopus (in-built Scopus tools, SciVal), and Web of Science (in-built WoS instruments). The bibliometric analysis extends to contextual, evolutionary, and spatial dimensions, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of the identified clusters. The ensuing clusters serve as a roadmap, categorizing publications based on their contextual relevance, evolutionary trajectory, and spatial focus, which enhances the identification of key works in the field, facilitating a nuanced understanding of the current state of external public debt management research. The synthesis of findings from the content-contextual block emphasizes a primary orientation toward understanding the dynamic interplay between external public debt management and economic development. Furthermore, the contextual-temporal block identifies four distinct stages in the evolution of research focus, highlighting the shifting emphasis over time. A discernible pattern of heightened research activity in external public debt management across various countries in recent decades is revealed through spatiotemporal analysis. The interdisciplinary nature of this field is underscored by the dominance of economics, econometrics, finance, business, management, and accounting in dedicated research.