Ukrainian Society

19-35

Authors: Chernysh N. Yo.

The article presents specific features and characteristics of the Ukrainian sociology development in general and sociological theorizing in particular; author traces the influence of the “Soviet heritage” in sociology in Ukraine and the difficulty of producing its own general sociological theory, resulting in the methodological crisis of 1990s–early 2000s, which is now is being slowly mastered. Paper suggests analysis of the similar processes for Russian sociology, and highlights a number of common and specific features in their development. With the experience of John Ritzer, the essence, stages, and varieties of sociological metatheorizing as the highest type of the general sociological theory are viewed and the possibilities and limits of application are defined. Based on this, a comparative analysis of the current state of metatheorizing in Ukrainian and Russian sociology made a generalization about their local specifications, which constitute separate cases of development of theorizing in a global sociology. These include (according to the classification of J. Ritzer) both sociologies being at the first stage of metatheorizing (Mu), but with a more profound its representation in Russian sociology and solitary interventions of the representatives of Ukrainian sociology at the second stage (Mp); increased researchers’ attention to new images of social reality either in stabilization or in transformation types of metatheorizing (by typology of D. Ivanov) in both sociologies. At the same time, in the Ukrainian and Russian versions of metatheorizing there are noticeable differences in the magnitude and time of the discussion of these issues; in the intensity or weakness of the “Soviet heritage” in the area of theorizing; in the degree of expansion of the discussion and debates of metatheorizing; the outcome of these discussions on the problems of interdisciplinarity and methodological turns of the present. The paper concludes with a statement of a number of problematic issues that require clarification and elaboration of agreed positions and highlight prospects for further research in the field of general sociological theory and metatheorizing.

49-58

Authors: Shkliar A. I.

The article considers the influence of financial technology companies’ development on the classical banking business. The tech lagging of the financial sector in respect to innovations applied has been noted (in comparison with other industries), as well as the significant growth in recent years of venture investments in financial technologies. FinTech companies are especially active in the payments and e-wallets segment, where the drivers of the changes are large equipment manufacturers and global technology companies – Apple, Samsung, Google, Amazon. Much of the investment is directed to the development of P2P payments (person-to-person) and start-ups related to social networks and instant messaging services. Part of the projects focuses specifically on the analysis of behavioral information of social networks users, used to score their solvency and risk assessment in lending. It is noted that regulatory constraints will deter the scaling of FinTech companies to the level of full-fledged banks, but there is an increase in the risk of banks losing market positions in services, especially in the front end of the service process, which is the direct interaction with the client.

74-94

Authors: Zarutska O. P.

It is proved that under the conditions of national market transformation of the domestic public debt, nature of the financial risks naturally changes, which affects the objectivity of the pricing of bonds of internal state loans in Ukraine. We have analyzed the characteristics of yield curves on the primary stock exchange and bonds of an internal state loan market (BISL) of government bonds denominated in local currency. After comparing the market components, paper analyzes the impact of macroeconomic factors associated with the rates of return of alternative financial instruments. It is established that as the result of a combination of economic and political factors, the market of government securities (GS) in Ukraine for a long time could not fully function, as evidenced by, in particular, over the limits fluctuations of return rates in all segments of the market and a relatively low degree of correlation with the yield indicators of the national economy and financial market. This situation of price instability was not associated with the factors of devaluation or other crisis factors that intensified in 2014, but rather was a characteristic of the government bond market during the whole studied interval (2010-2015). It is proved that that in the mid-term perspective, with the restoration of macro-financial stability, the priority tasks of the market development must be reduction of the administrative burden on the government bonds market; decline in the share of the NBU to pre-crisis levels of 15-20%; unification of securities to improve market liquidity for the withdrawal of the securities that did not have sufficient demand among investors; increase of qualitative characteristics of attracted financial resources; attraction of small investors’ savings, implementation of loaning by issuing government bonds under specific investment program, reduction of the loans share to cover the budget deficit. Author accentuated that the success of the further development of the internal market of GS largely depends on the debt policy coordination with the monetary and fiscal ones, decrease of the administrative impact and effective management of the GS portfolio. Paper determined that the development of the market for government securities requires creation of a system of mid-term financial planning, which will increase the transparency and clarity of the state debt policy for internal and external investors.

112-119

Authors: Nitspol S. I., Nesterenko Ye. O.

Authors present results of polls of the innovative youth project U-Report for the period of December 2017 – February 2018 on the issues of youth activity in student government, youth volunteer activities, equality of women’s and men’s rights and opportunities.