THE STATE AGRARIAN REGISTER AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF BUDGET SUBSIDY DISTRIBUTION IN UKRAINE’S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Abstract

Introduction. Improving the efficiency of budget subsidy distribution in Ukraine’s agricultural sector is a pressing challenge, especially under wartime conditions when both the scale of support and the quality of its administration are equally important. The introduction of the State Agrarian Register (SAR) in August 2022 as a mandatory digital beneficiary verification platform represents a significant institutional change whose financial impact requires systematic assessment. Purpose. This article assesses the operational efficiency of budget subsidy distribution to Ukraine’s agricultural sector before and after the introduction of SAR in 2022–2024, and identifies key limitations of its current architecture from a public finance perspective. Methods. The study applies a before-after comparative analysis using normalised budget programme execution indicators. Five operational efficiency indicators are constructed: programme execution rate (P1), beneficiary coverage (P2), share of small producers (P3), scale of programme integration (P4), and structural duplication risk (P5). A partial integral operational efficiency indicator (I*OE) is calculated for 2021 and 2024 to quantify the aggregate change in operational capacity. Results. The programme execution rate increased from 34.4% in 2021 to 77.6% in 2024, while the share of individual persons among recipients reached 72.6%, indicating a structural redistribution of transfers towards small producers. The partial integral efficiency indicator rose from 0.142 to 0.908 – a 6.4-fold increase. Automatic cross-register verification (State Land Cadastre, State Property Rights Register, Animal Register) eliminated structural opportunities for duplicate claims and inflated declarations, thereby reducing information asymmetry at the beneficiary identification stage. Systemic limitations are identified: server overloads in 2024, digital divide associated with qualified electronic signature requirements, restricted access for producers in frontline and occupied territories, and – most critically – the absence of post-payment outcome monitoring. Conclusion. SAR functions as a front-end financial control instrument that effectively addresses information asymmetry at the entry stage of the subsidy mechanism. However, the current architecture controls the “entry” into the subsidy system but not the “exit”: outcome efficiency remains beyond the reach of the existing verification framework. Integration of SAR with State Tax Service fiscal data to enable post-payment audit is proposed as the priority reform direction. The launch of SAR’s public reporting module in March 2026 creates conditions for future outcome efficiency research.