LOGISTICS CENTERS: STATUS AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS

Abstract

A developed logistics and transport system determines the level of economic development of the country, and the promotion of the concept of supply chains and the implementation of scientific results developed in this field into the practice of production, trade and transport enterprises at the global, international, national and regional levels actualize the need to deepen research into the formation and functioning of logistics centers with the aim of developing theoretical-methodological, institutional, normative-legal and methodical support for their activities. In recent years, global practice and domestic business have shown a steady trend towards increasing the volume and improving the quality of logistics services. In this connection, the need to create a modern logistics infrastructure, one of the objects of which is a logistics center, is growing. The development of logistics infrastructure is of particular importance for Ukraine in connection with the change in its political and economic strategy aimed at joining the EU, the process of forming modern product supply chains. Despite the difficulties faced by the transport and logistics sector of Ukraine due to the full-scale invasion of Russia, in July 2022 the EU included Ukrainian logistics routes in the Trans-European Transport Network. This will allow the development of multimodal transportation, reduce logistics costs, and also contribute to the attraction of European investments for the modernization of this sector of the country's economy. For the efficient operation of the logistics and transport system of Ukraine, the development of a system of innovative logistics centers, the projects of which will be presented at the event, is extremely important. - restoration of logistics capacities to meet the needs of trade and production; 4 PREFACE – development of logistics hubs near borders and large airports; – automation in the logistics industry; - development of land logistics partnership with EU countries. The term "logistics center" itself is quite common, and sometimes any large warehouse complex with a standard list of services is understood by it. However, the modern realities of the development of the domestic logistics infrastructure dictate new requirements for both the semantics and the content of the term "logistics center". Today, it is a more perfect organization, characterized by the expansion of the range of services and has its own distinctive features. Many residents are located on its territory, which provide the entire complex of logistics services related to transportation, distribution, warehousing, cargo processing, supply, inventory management and other related services. Many structures are involved in the complex process of planning, construction and operation of the logistics center: governmental, federal, regional, municipal, as well as private investors, developers and logistics operators. The main task of the logistics center is the effective integration and coordination of the activities of all internal participants, as well as external producers and consumers. The creation of a modern network of logistics centers will allow the domestic economy to solve many urgent tasks: a) relieve the tension of city traffic, because transport accessibility is necessary for the efficient operation of logistics centers, and they are located outside the territory of cities and convenient entrances to them are organized; b) increase the efficiency of land use, as valuable urban land is freed up for new social construction; c) reduce the amount of emissions into the atmosphere due to a decrease in the participation of freight transport in urban traffic; d) to strengthen the country's competitiveness on world commodity markets; 5 PREFACE e) to solve the problems of employment of the population thanks to the creation of a significant number of new jobs; f) solve the issue of migration of the working population, which prefers to find work closer to the place of residence. The foreign practice of organizing logistics centers shows that the state is primarily interested in their creation, as a result of which it is ready to provide the necessary area for development, provide the land with the necessary infrastructure, and invest funds in construction. However, there is still no program for the development of logistics centers in Ukraine, and the creation of large warehouse complexes is completely left to private entrepreneurship. Private companies are often driven only by the interest of obtaining a quick profit and strive to create modern multimodal complexes that require high volumes of investments with a long payback period. The realities of the modern economic and political development of Ukraine, especially the future post-war development, actualize the need for the creation and development of modern logistics centers on the basis of public private partnership, as focal companies that manage commodity and material and related flows on the way to promote products along new transport routes.