Decentralisation in Ukraine is a series of reforms to give additional power and resources to
local authorities. This process was intended to advance
regional development and
border reform. Successful steps have been taken.
Angela Merkel,
Georg Milbradt and Hugues Mingarelli praised the reforms. In opinion of financial experts (PhD Yеvhеn Мarynсhak) decentralizing
public funds of
territorial communities
A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...
, the
state should use real instruments that can help create a strong
regional economy on the territory.
Reforms
The decentralization reform had the following provisions:
* Strengthen
local government;
* Change
administrative-territorial structure;
* Consolidate the “principle of
omnipresence
Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to describe ...
” (
local governments
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
are defined by lands on the territory of
settlements);
*
Empower local government with sufficient powers and resources;
* Reflect historical,
economic,
environmental and
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
characteristics when planning the development of
United territorial communities;
* Transfer roles that local governments can perform to
local authorities;
The reform consists of three key components:
*
Reform of the territorial organisation of
power
* Reform of local
self-government
* Reform of
regional policy
History
After Ukraine
gained independence in 1991, the state increased local/regional government powers. In 1997 Ukraine ratified the
European Charter of Local Self-Government, and adopted regulatory acts that established such powers. However, discussions concerning larger scale organisation as a rule concerned the distribution of powers at the national level.
Following
Euromaidan
Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...
in 2014, the
new government launched a national project "Decentralisation" (
Ukrainian: Національний проект "Децентралізація"), on 1 April. The
government of Volodymyr Groysman identified support for decentralisation as one of its priorities.
Results
During the reform, local budget revenues grew from
UAH 68.6 billion in 2014 to UAH 146.6 billion in 2016. By the end of 2017, local budget revenues had reached UAH 170.7 billion. In addition,
amalgamated hromadas became more active in the process of budget formation: during the first 10 months of 2017, amalgamated hromadas increased their own revenues by 80%, while national revenues grew by only 31.8%. In addition, ''
per capita'' development expenditures in January-September 2017 increased by 225% compared to 2016 (for example: in communities without amalgamated hromada, growth was only 50%).
From 2014 to 2017, state support for the development of amalgamated hromadas and their infrastructure increased from 0.5 billion UAH up to 14.9 billion UAH.
International support
Donor agencies, embassies and multilateral organisations are financing and implementing programs and decentralization projects via a Donor Board.
The following projects and organisations are very active:
Programme – multi-donor action of the
European Union and its Member States
Denmark,
Estonia,
Germany,
Poland and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, implemented by
GIZ (German
development agency
An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organization ...
) and
Sida (
agency
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that ...
of the
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs)
* DESPRO – Swiss-Ukrainian Project, funded by the
Swiss Confederation through
SDC and implemented by Skat
*
USAID-funde
DOBRE program
* Joint
UNDP/
EU Project – “Community Based Approach to Local Development”
References
{{reflist
See also
Official website of the reform
Decentralization
Local government in Ukraine
Subdivisions of Ukraine