Towards the optimal control of Markov chains with constraints

An optimal control problem with constraints is considered on a finite interval for a non-stationary Markov chain with a finite state space. The constraints are given as a set of inequalities. The optimal solution existence is proved under a natural assumption that the set of admissible controls is non-empty. The stochastic control problem is reduced to a deterministic one and it is shown that the optimal solution satisfies the maximum principle, moreover it can be chosen within a class of Markov controls. On the basis of this result an approach to the numerical solution is proposed and its implementation is illustrated by examples.