Forests play a key role in the economy and the ecology of any country. Ukraine is characterized by great forestry capacity. Today, the forests cover 17.7% (about 10.7 million hectares) of the 60.3 million hectares of the total area of Ukraine. Zakarpatska oblast is among the richest in forest resources not only in the Carpathian region, but also in the country as a whole. Within the Carpathian region, Zakarpatska oblast is characterized by high indicators of forest area, forest cover, and the share of forests against the national rates. The forest cover of the region is 51.5%. The oblast takes the leading place among all oblasts of Ukraine by the timber reserves and forest cover and is one of the first five oblasts by the area of the forest fund. Determining the development trends of forestry in Zakarpatska oblast and the Carpathian region as a whole will allow to better understand the current situation and possible ways to solve the main problems faced by the sector today, as well as the driving force for further growth. Based on the important role of forests in the future and the present and taking into account such important challenges as climate change and the emerging contradictory demands of society, understanding the dynamics of the sector is necessary to ensure further sustainable development of the forest industry not only in Zakarpatska oblast but also in Ukraine as a whole. The paper summarizes the main structural and dynamic trends in the development of the forestry sector of Zakarpatska oblast and proposes possible efficient solutions for the further development of the region. The paper also analyzes the trends of changes in the areas of forest reproduction by forestry enterprises in Ukraine and the oblasts of the Carpathian region. On the basis of the collected data the main objectives of the present development of the forestry sector of the Carpathian region and the state as a whole were identified, contributing to the optimization of forestry enterprises in Ukraine. 

forestry, features of the Carpathian forests, profitability of forestry enterprises, Zakarpatska oblast 

The directions for clustering of economic activities in Zakarpattya region are defined based on the empirical (survey) and econometric (clustering by k-means and tree-type clustering) approaches. The 7 fields are determined to form the clusters of the priority economic activities in Zakarpattya: agriculture, food processing, forestry, wood industry and furniture, machinery and tourism. It is proved that it is rationale to develop 4 clusters in the region: agricultural and food, tourism, machinery and wood industrial sector. Using the criteria of support intensity by local government in Zakarpattya to development of priority economic activities, level sub-regional clustering (13 districts and 5 cities of regional subordination) was done based on their 4 group-distribution. Application of this approach allowed to clearly differentiate and group the sub-regions by the number and degree of priority activities support. Thus, the appropriate analytical sample is 100%. The economic characteristics of each sub-regional group of clustering levels were generalized. The Level 1 cluster includes only 3 subregions, namely Mukachevo, Uzhgorod and Vynohradiv districts. They have the most of economic activities in Level 1 clusters – respectively 7, 6 and 5, and do not have any kind of activity that would take placed at the 4th level cluster. The 2nd level of the cluster include 5 sub-regions: Irshavsky, Tyachiv and Mizhhirya districts, Uzhgorod and Mukachevo cities, which possess the 1&2-nd priority activities in the 1st level of the cluster and have also activities in the 4th level of the cluster. Quantitatively, the largest group is the 3rd level of the cluster includes 6 sub-regions: Chop town, Velyky Berezny, Volivets, Perechyn, Beregovo and Svalyava districts. These units are generally characterized by one activity in the 1st and two activities in the 4th level of the cluster. The 4th level of the cluster includes 4 subregions (Khust city, Rakhiv, Beregovo and Khust districts), that have no priority activity in the 1st level and 2 to 4 priority economic activities in the 4th level of the cluster. The level clustering of subregions in Zakarpattya revealed a quantitative asymmetry in grouping of analytical units in regard to the support intensity by local authorities for the priority activities. It is worth to note, that at the phase of forming the new set of support to the priority economic activities the attention should be paid also to the above features of the cluster groups. 

clustering, priority activity, subregion, economic development tools to support economic development 

This study involved a theoretical analysis of definitions of sustainable development to identify the weights of different components, to assess what meanings are included in the term by different authors and communities, and to understand the role of managerial approaches in sustainable development. A principle managerial model of sustainable development is presented in which common purposes and joint management serve to unify economic, environmental, and social components. 

sustainable development, definitions, components, managerial sustainable development model