Transition to the “green” economy is a complex and uneven process, which may not occur simultaneously in the entire social system. The stimuli for the development of the “green” economy emerge depending on the resource potential (tangible and intangible) and the actual conditions observed in concrete rural communities.The present research is dedicated to the development and approbation of the instruments for the recognition of the resource base of rural communities in the development of “green” economy. Theauthorssuggestanapproachbasedontheprinciplesofmultivariateanalysis, which allows analysts to identify “growth areas” of the green economy, to develop a new explanatory model of the process and results of the ecological transformation of rural economies, and to determine priorities for state support and the most attractive areas for private investment. In order to increase efficiency of state and private investment supporting “green” development of rural areas it is necessary to assess the existing “green” economy potential in the context of their current resource opportunities.