History of the Department »

History of the Department

The Department was established in 1906, at the very inception of the Higher Commercial Courses, under the name "Department of Economics."

Throughout the 20th century, it underwent an evolutionary path of formation, development, transformation, and successful operation.

In its early stages, the department was an integral part of the fundamental institutional education. Students of the Kyiv Commercial Institute (from 1908) studied in the economics and commercial departments, where they took mandatory courses such as industrial economics, seminars in applied economics, organization of industrial and commercial enterprises, and special courses in applied economics. The student reading room, in addition to specialized and reference literature, collected brochures from trading companies, charters, and reports of industrial and commercial enterprises. These courses provided the necessary practical training for future professionals in commercial enterprises (in trade and industry) and civil servants (for public and state positions).

From 1910 to 1917, the department's faculty, scientific school, and the necessary curriculum, which formed the basis of modern subjects in the field of enterprise economics, were established. In 1913, the first textbook titled "Industrial Economics" by authors S. Goldel’man, A. Kuprits, and S. S. Ostapenko was published in Kyiv by Grossman’s printing house on V. Velyka Street.

In 1926, the department operated within the Faculty of Economics under the name "Department of Industry."

After World War II, from 1944 to 1957, the department of industrial economics was headed by the renowned economist F. Bardier, who formed a team of like-minded individuals united by the belief in the necessity of improving economic science and practice.

From 1957 to 1968, the department was led by Professor D. Hak. From July 1963 to August 1965, it was known as the "Department of National Economy Planning."

During this period, the department grew significantly and became one of the leading departments in the institute, excelling in organizing educational and methodological work and research activities, as well as in the scale and quality of training scientific and pedagogical staff through postgraduate studies. Professor D. Hak introduced real diploma projects defended directly in production settings, new forms of conducting seminars and exams, and problem-based lectures for students. Since 1960, the department began preparing scientific and pedagogical staff through postgraduate studies. Under the leadership of Professor D. Hak, over 80 candidates of economic sciences and 13 doctors of sciences were trained.

For many years, the Department of Industrial Economics was the only specialized department in the Faculty of Industrial Planning, employing 10 lecturers. This department formed the foundation for all other economic departments that emerged between 1960 and 1965: the Department of Technological Disciplines, the Department of National Economy Planning, the Department of Organization and Planning of Industrial Enterprises, the Department of Economics and Planning of Material and Technical Supply, and the Department of Scientific Organization of Management and Labor.

A qualitatively new stage in improving the department's research and educational activities occurred from 1968 to 1992, under the leadership of Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor S. Pokropyvnyi. The results of the department's research were reflected in over 180 published scientific works by Professor S. Pokropyvnyi, including 22 scientific monographs, textbooks, and teaching aids, totaling more than 450 printed sheets. The most significant among them are: "Economics of Industrial Production" (1977, 25 printed sheets, co-authored by S. Pokropyvnyi, O. Belorus, O. Fedonin), "Efficiency of Machine Repair" (1975, 14 printed sheets), "Economic Justification of Engineering Solutions" (1985, 16 printed sheets), "Efficiency of Innovation Processes in Machine Building" (1987, 10 printed sheets), "Scientific and Technical and Organizational Progress in Machine Building: Efficiency and Ways of Acceleration" (1989, 18 printed sheets).

The first and only textbooks in Ukraine edited by Professor S. F. Pokropyvnyi were published: "Economics of Industry" (1977, 34 printed sheets), "Economics of Enterprise" (1995, 32 printed sheets), "Enterprise: Strategy, Organization, Efficiency" (1997, 22 printed sheets), and "Business Plan: Development and Justification Technology" (1999, 12 printed sheets). In 1990, the departments of Organization and Planning of Industrial Enterprises and Industrial Economics were merged into the Department of Economics and Production Management, with Professor S. Pokropyvnyi appointed as its head. Under the scientific supervision of Professor S. Pokropyvnyi, 36 postgraduate students became candidates of economic sciences, and 7 trainees became doctors of economic sciences.

In 1992, the department was renamed the "Department of Enterprise Economics." From 1992 to 1993, the department was headed by Associate Professor A. Nalyvaiko. Until the 1990s, the department had a small staff. With the expansion of faculties and the student body, enterprise economics gained the status of a university-wide discipline, and the department was supplemented with new lecturers. From 1994 to 2018, the department was led by Candidate of Economic Sciences, Professor H. Shvydanenko. Over 25 years, under the leadership of Heneha Oleksandrivna Shvydanenko, the department achieved significant results in all areas of its activities.

In 2019, as part of optimizing the structure of the Faculty of Economics and Management and aligning with labor market requirements, the Department of Enterprise Economics was renamed the "Department of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship," with Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor Inna Riepina appointed as its head. The high professional reputation and competitiveness of the department’s graduates in the domestic and international labor markets attest to the high quality of educational services provided by the department's faculty and the university as a whole.