To date, the activities of producers based on new methods of management, based on market relations, so the issue of integration and cooperation takes on new meaning and are important for stabilizing and improving the efficiency of agricultural production.

How to prove the economic realities and experience of leading countries in the world at present, in contrast to the initial market reforms that focus on the creation of small-scale production, focuses on the development of large agricultural enterprises by improving their production and forms of economic cooperation with companies that recycle materials.

Formation of the market economy in Ukraine makes the need for the development of cooperative relationships as an important part of agrarian reforms. As a catalyst to the development of the cooperative movement in Ukraine became the Law of Ukraine "On Agricultural Cooperation" (1997) and "On Cooperation" (2003) and Decrees of the President of Ukraine "On the formation and reformation of the agricultural market" on June 6, 2000 and "on measures to develop cooperative movement and of its role in reforming Ukraine's economy based on market principles" of 19 December 2000, a number of other legal acts. Legislative and regulatory support is directed to the formation of agricultural market infrastructure, enabling reliable resource support production and sales of agricultural products, effective competitive business environment in the agricultural sector.

The author analyzes the economic substance of the category "agricultural cooperatives" and studied its basic interpretation of various economists and researchers.

The author argues that modification of the theory of cooperation, which has long formed, must take into account the economic development and social orientation of the economy, market conditions and, most importantly, multiculturalism, and the presence in the agrarian sector of various forms of management and ownership.

From the article we can see that the development of the cooperative movement, including the establishment of agricultural service cooperatives are an important part of the process of formation of agricultural market infrastructure. The study found that service cooperatives in rural areas are created to bring to market relations of small agricultural producers - farmers and private farms, their share in the gross output of agriculture is respectively 3.9 and 59.3%. Typically, these cooperatives provide services primarily to its members and other persons for the purpose of their business.

This paper analyzes the international experience of cooperation, the results of which indicate that the cooperatives as a form of self-organization and self-help farmers to reduce the number of intermediaries in the process of promoting products from producer to consumer, occupy an important place in the agricultural sector in many countries. Development cooperation is a logical step in the development of market economy in agriculture and infrastructure elements of a comprehensive rural development.

The author investigates the main factors in the formation of cooperation in the European Union and found that the effective functioning of cooperatives in these countries is due, above all, the basic principles of their organization: voluntary and equal partners in the management of democracy, the right to dispose of earned income, economic independence. Cooperative organized at their own expense founder and bank loans, and follow-up is done on the basis of self-support and self-financing.

Since some cooperatives often lack opportunities to be active in their own market, the author reasonably concludes the need for specialized direct marketing cooperatives for agricultural producers.

Key words: agricultural cooperatives, cooperation, efficiency.