The purpose of this publication is to present the main idea, conceptual and methodological foundations, theoretical background, sources and directions of the study of the historical development of foreign economic relations of the Ukrainian economy. Finding ways for Ukraine to abandon the pattern of import dependent development and low-tech export is an urgent scientific and practical task. Historical factors play an important role in determining the country’s international specialization and position in world markets.
The object of the study is the historical process of the inclusion of Ukraine’s economy in the system of international economic relations.
Regularities, trends and national peculiarities in the formation of foreign economic relations of Ukraine’s economy are the subject of the study.
The economic methodology of the study is based on an evolutionary-institutional approach. Traditional and contemporary theories of international trade, economic integration, foreign economic policy, international competition and national competitiveness are the theoretical foundations of the study.
Analysis of historical sources opens up problem areas of scientific research and gives grounds for forming its working hypotheses.
Studying the history of foreign trade, labor migration, participation in international monetary relations, international cooperation of production and the relationship of structural changes in the economy with the forms of international economic relations are the main fields of the investigation.
Historical research is the basis for making proposals on optimization of the national foreign economic policy with the purpose of strengthening the economic sovereignty of the state, development of the national economy and ensuring its international competitiveness.
International relations of the Ukrainian economy as a object of historico-economic research