Main objective of the article is to evaluate the profit and subsidies development in Slovak agriculture based on individual data from the balance sheets and profit and loose statements of all agricultural enterprises in the period 1993-2008. Entering EU in 2004 and implementation of CAP meant the change of the whole subsidies system in Slovakia. The amount paid on subsidies is increasing but the profit stagnates. The article focuses on two variables: profit per hectare and profit without subsidies per hectare.

Fast changes in agriculture can contribute to the increase of productivity andRomania can go on the same path of innovation and development (in terms of agriculture) with Poland. Therefore, the purpose of research is to provide an overview of Romania’s situation in a ranking of European countries where innovation is best capitalize. The last chapter on the paper includes a comparation between Romania and Lithuania regarding the invovation in the rural areas, based on Eurostat data.The research methodology is based on quantitative research, collecting data from the specific sites and the interpretation of the graphics optained. The result was that the two countries have similar percentages of the indicators measuring innovationand the reason for using empirical methods to produce food and the incapacity to adapt to the marketing demands is represented by the lack of education and information.

Recently, the implementation of innovation, scientific achievements and new technologies in business, has obtained a global nature, and is becoming one of the factors strengthening the competitiveness of business. However, innovation in the agricultural business, has carried out carefully and only in short-term prospects in the context of economic development. The aim – to explore the theoretical assumptions of business development in implementation of innovation and to define the opportunities for innovation development in agricultural business. The research methodology consists of: the theoretical analysis of assumptions about innovation in business development; and empirical analysis of the potentials of agriculture development and case study analysis of agricultural business. The investigation using the scientific literature and documentary sources; content analysis; participatory approach; and diagnostic methods of interconnections were carried out. The assumptions for the development of innovation in business and opportunities for innovation in agriculture development were defined.

Actually, agricultural surfaces are estimated by the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) through experts evaluations. The present work has two purposes: 1) to improve the use of administrative data for increasing reliability of crop statistics; 2) to improve methodology for releasing crop early estimates. IACS administrative data are available within a short time lag, cover all the main crops and may substitute estimates gradually. As regards early estimates, the usual design based estimation strategy may be improved through double sampling and model based regression. Results show good reliability of administrative data and decrease of estimates variances using model based estimation.

Over the last decade, Lithuanian pork sector faced dramatic changes, where trade relations with Russia had an important role. The research problem is defined as follows: how does the trade ban of Russia, imposed towards live pigs and pork originating from Lithuania, affect price changes on domestic Lithuanian pork market? The research aims at estimating the effects of the trade ban caused by the outbreak of the swine fever in Lithuania and providing proposals on situation development. The aim is achieved by analysing the transmission of price changes between Lithuanian and Russian pork markets by using the ARDL model. The results indicate a significant decrease in transmission of price changes, both in short- and long-run, from Lithuanian pig prices towards Russian domestic prices during the ‘2011 ban’ regime and further worsening of the situation during ‘2014 ban’ period that was mainly caused by the isolation of the Russian market and lack of export diversification strategy from the Lithuanian side. In Lithuania, high price volatility was not typical during the bans, while negative effects on welfare of farmers were evidenced by reduced trade volumes, which could be improved by biosafety and disease spread reducing measures, reassessing trade regulations and partners’ network.

Rural areas both in Russia and Jordan are characterized by the lack of job places and relatively low opportunities for female and youth labor. The situation is worsened by the decrease in the efficiency of the agricultural production in general. Institutional and technological transformations are required to improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector which will inevitably be accompanied by the expansion of the employment. The purpose of the research is to analyze socio-economic aspects of agricultural sectors of Russia and Jordan and to develop proposals for the management of labor resources with the focus on women employment. Research methods consist of comparative analysis of socio-economic development of agricultural areas on the basis of statistical data for Russia and Jordan as well as SWOT analysis. It is recommended to launch a national project on agricultural development in Jordan, as in Russia, with specific country targets and similar objectives pointed out in the study.

The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) is considered to be a new phenomenon signalling political will, highly relevant issue in contemporary domain of discussions among practitioners and researchers. While practitioners lack experience, researchers make attempts to identify the factors that influence effectiveness of an innovation partnership, explore the indicators and techniques to determine and evaluate its effectiveness. Aim of the study presented in the article is to determine the external and internal factors that influence effectiveness of the European Innovation Partnership by analysing the operating conditions of an operational group of the European Innovation Partnership in Agriculture (EIP-AGRI). Expert evaluation was carried out by experts who have scientific and practical experience: scientists, policy makers, innovators, developing an innovation partnership. The force field analysis has shown that the number of negative factors of EIP effectiveness exceeds the number of positive factors, and the factors analysed and evaluated allow to identify potential negative consequences in a timely manner and provide the opportunity to predict effectiveness of the EIP-based projects.

The majority of households are family business organizations, which were formed naturally and handed down from generation to generation; thus, often it is difficult to reconcile necessary changes with the fundamental value – harmony between business and lifestyle. Research question: do the Lithuanian farmers have an entrepreneurial attitude towards farming? Aim of the research – to evaluate Lithuanian farmers’ attitude towards business and to present scientific insights regarding the development of households and promotion of farmers’ entrepreneurship. Theoretical research was carried out while applying methods of analysis and content analysis of scientific researches. In order to find out about Lithuanian farmers’ attitude towards farming, motives and business, the method of questionnaire survey was applied. In total, 162 farmers working in different Lithuanian municipalities were interviewed. 82 percentage of interviewed persons recognize farming as a type of business. In order to achieve identified business goals, farmers expand areas of cultivated land, improve production technologies, and have consultations. Teaching/learning, dissemination of good practices could be possible measures which contribute to the change of the attitude towards activity of these farmers.

The stabilization policy of the state should consider the sensitivity of various sectors of the economy to cyclical fluctuations. This actualizes the problem of assessing the sensitivity of the agricultural sector of post-socialist countries to cyclical fluctuations of the economy. The purpose of the article is to provide a comparative assessment of the sensitivity of share agricultural sector to cyclical fluctuations in developed (post-industrial) and post-socialist countries. The generalizing intensity index of cyclic fluctuations was used as an explanatory variable, and the characteristics of the variability of the agricultural sector share in GDP (based on a modified mean square deviation) was used as a dependent variable. The obtained estimates of the model parameters shows that the long-term trend of reducing the share of the agrarian sector is decaying. However, with the attenuation of the trend component of the series, the cyclic component remains very noticeable and the relative fluctuations of the share of the agricultural sector (around a very small absolute value) remain significant.

The Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, on the one hand, opens up good prospects for increasing the competitiveness of Ukrainian agricultural producers, on the other hand, it causes a lot of difficulties related to the general state of the Ukrainian society. The purpose of this work is to identification prospects and challenges (risks) for the Ukrainian agricultural market in the course in provisions implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Research methods: the historical-sociological, system-structural analysis, comparative-legal, formallogical and hermeneutical researching helped to study of international universal and regional treaties in order to understand the contents of international standards related to international trade and the processes of its liberalization and the specifics of their applying in the agricultural sector during the acting of the General Trade Tariffs-47 and under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. Results of the research – revealed the fluctuations of eurointegration sentiments in Ukraine. It has been proved that the prospects of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU and ways of their implementation in Ukrainian agricultural market should be understood in the context of historical circumstances. The key to success of reforms in Ukraine is to exclude caste privileges and build a civil society, taking into account the experience of the Western legal tradition.