On 23 December, the first elections of newly formed amalgamated hromadas took place in a number of oblasts of Ukraine. At the same time, in 10 oblasts, including the Vinnytsia Oblast, hromadas are waiting for continuation of the electoral process in 2019, since by law elections are prohibited during the martial law. The elections were suspended in the Sobolivska, Teplytska and Pavlivska hromadas of the oblast.

Oleh Levchenko, Director of the Vinnytsia Local Government Development Centre established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, told on the air of the Vinnytsia Regional Division NSTUUA:Vinnytsia about the prospects of decentralisation and the peculiarities of the electoral process in the amalgamated hromadas of the Vinnytsia Oblast.

Oleg Levchenko emphasised that the main challenge for hromadas, which did not hold elections in 2018, is the issue of financial support for the implementation of new powers.

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