The decentralisation reform, initiated five years ago, allowed tens of billions of hryvnias to be transferred to the ground, which today need to be effectively invested in the well-rounded human development, including education, culture, sports infrastructure, said Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman during the Governmental meeting.

One of the issues discussed at the meeting was the assessment of implementation of sports facilities network development programmes in Ukraine. As you know, from 2016, 10% of the State Fund for Regional Development funds are allocated for the construction and renovation of sports facilities. And last year the volume of allocations made up UAH 600 million, 137 projects were approved. An additional resource was provided by hromadas.

“It is important that local self-government does not stand aside problems,” said Volodymyr Groysman. “Sometimes I hear: why should we finance sports and culture, we’ll be better off planting cedar trees. No, it is wrong. The main thing is to invest in a person.”

The Head of Government stressed that mass sport infrastructure includes new stadiums, new sports halls, sports facilities. This is also the image of the country – both in view of Ukrainian athletes’ participation in competitions and in view of the possibility of holding tournaments in Ukraine. “A lot has been done in recent years, but we can do more. To do this, one must adhere to a clear priorities,” he added, and proposed to assign hromadas with a task to go over the programme on construction of stadiums near schools: on the principle of developing kindergartens and reducing the queue to preschool institutions. The stadiums, according to the Prime Minister, will become centres of a healthy lifestyle, especially among children and youth.