EN
In the paper the author claims that thinking about rural competitiveness needs analyses of present constrains of rural areas development. Two groups of these constrains are distinguished. First is connected with rural areas, and second one — with agricultural sector of economy. Most negative circumstances are as follows: high rate of unemployment, low rural incomes, insufficient level of education, and low rate of productivity of small and medium farms, lack of tight links between elements food chain, low level of institutional infrastructure. This kind of knowledge allows to describe factors that are critical to creating competitive advantage of rural areas. Increase of competitiveness presently depends on quality of farm produce, on productivity agricultural and rural economic units, on a level of utility, and also on the range of farm produce.