The paper presents a retrospective review of the evolution of the institute of regional development agencies in Ukraine. It has been determined that until 2015 there were attempts to build this institution, however, due to a number of factors they were stochastic and inconsistent, which did not allow to talk about the existence of an effective institution of regional development agencies. It has also been determined that taking into account the course chosen by Ukraine for European integration, the European model served as the basis for the development of regional development agencies after 2015. So, the functions and purpose of existence are clearly correlated with European practices, the same can be said about the approaches to stakeholders and founders. At the same time, agencies in Ukraine do not currently operate at their full capacity. The paper summarizes the main obstacles to the full functioning of regional development agencies in the regions of the country and focuses on the need to understand ways to increase the competitiveness of the regions and aspects of their achievements with a focus on stakeholders. The general features of European practices that should be adapted to domestic realities are outlined. Foreign experience is characterized in a generalized way. The key vectors of development of this institution in the country have been identified, so that regional development agencies can become centers for managing the strategic development of the region, a platform that will allow transparent and systematic work to unlock the socio-economic potential of each region and use all available means: capital; financial instruments; domestic and foreign investments, etc.