The agro-industrial complex of Ukraine is actively working to enter the global and the EU market, producing products that will meet international standards and requirements for product quality and safety. The dairy subcomplex of the country's agro-industrial complex, which occupies one of the leading positions in the structure of the domestic economy, is no exception. There are certain features in the functioning of its enterprises, namely: the presence of strong consumer demand; a wide assortment of dairy products; short-term shelf life of dairy products; the sphere of production is environmentally threatening. Permanent crises in the Ukrainian economy, the devaluation of the hryvnia, decline in household income and purchasing power, increased competition in the global market, as well as the continuous rise in world prices for food and non-food items have created new realities for enterprise functioning in the dairy subcomplex of Ukrainian agro-industrial complex and cause its transformation. The study revealed the main directions of its transformation and the factors influencing the conditions of its functioning, including negative, such as a decline in cattle numbers, decrease in production volumes and quality deterioration of raw materials for dairy production, reduction of dairy enterprise numbers, etc. It is determined that the state support instruments in the form of subsidies to milk producers are not always effective. We studied the main problems of the drop in milk production in Ukraine and identified certain directions for solving the existing problems. We reveal that in order to halt the critical decline in milk production, a joint effort by producers, processors, and public institutions is needed to increase the investment attractiveness of subcomplex enterprises, in particular, to demand the creation of an effective national program for the development of the dairy subcomplex of Ukrainian agro-industrial complex.