The city of Drohobych and the Bashtanska amalgamated hromada became the winners of the Crystal of the Year budget transparency rating among Ukrainian AHs and cities. This is the first in Ukraine award for budget transparency, according to an internationally recognised methodology, developed by a consortium of international and Ukrainian organidations working to improve the quality of governance and financial management. All nominees were rated by 34 criteria. In total, 50 AHs and 37 cities participated in the assessment.

The winners in other nominations include:

• Shumska AH (the best budget for citizens),
• Vinnytsia (the most transparent publication of budget data in machine-readable format),
• Lutsk (the most transparent communal enterprises),
• Lviv (the most open expenditures),
• Chernivtsi (for the availability of budget information in the city),
• Sumy (the best involvement of citizens in the city budget process),
• Skalatska AH (the most innovative budget transparency practices in AH).

"This is a work carried out by a large team. And the fact that we have such nominees today is extremely important for Ukraine. There begins a new stage, which should enable local self-government representatives, on the one hand, to be open to their hromadas, to engage them in work, and, on the other hand, to intensify work and increase trust in local authorities,” said Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine.

"Each of you is involved in the best foreign practices of budget management (which you know better than me). We applaud your initiative, your creativity and your courage, especially those who do it for the first time. Probably all of you do it for the first time. And I think it needs strength and willpower. Therefore, on behalf of the Agency (USAID) and the US Embassy in Ukraine, we are proud to be able to support you in engaging citizens in making decisions on how to spend hromada funds,” said Marie Yovanovitch, US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine.

The full version is available in Ukrainian – please click HERE