At the Strategic Session on Preparing Proposals to the Roadmap for the Implementation of the Reform of Local Self-Government, Territorial Organisation of Power and Administrative and Territorial Structure, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine discussed the ways to implement the proposed reform steps with the leadership of the President's Office and the Committee on State Building, Local Self-Governance, Regional and Urban Development, relevant associations, representatives of the International Technical Assistance projects and NGOs, as well as with the experts involved.

The draft Roadmap proposed by the Ministry defines the main goals and objectives of the reform for the period of martial law and after its lifting.

The main tasks of the reform for the period of martial law are as follows:

• Reformatting local state administrations into prefecture-type bodies;
• Improving the performance of local self-government bodies and military administrations under martial law;
• Improving the administrative and territorial structure;
• Strengthening the local self-government financial capacity;
• Involving residents in local decision-making;
• Strengthening the capacity of local self-government bodies, in particular in terms of project management, digitalisation, anti-corruption and strategic planning;
• Promoting partnerships and inter-municipal cooperation;
• Introducing local statistics.

The defined tasks are based on the results of the High-Level Dialogue "Good Democratic Governance in Ukraine: Achievements, Challenges and the Post-War Path Forward" and developments of the Ministry jointly with key stakeholders.

"The reform of local self-government and territorial organisation of power gave impetus to the formation of local self-government, the most capable and closest to the citizen institution of power in a democratic society," said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine.

He reminded that this reform has already proved its effectiveness, created opportunities for municipal development and consolidated the whole of Ukraine — despite military aggression, constant shelling and hostilities, local self-government bodies demonstrated their resilience and the ability to respond promptly in crisis situations, continued to ensure the vital activity of municipalities and provide services to residents.

"Completing the decentralisation reform during a full-scale war is a unique experience for Ukraine. On the one hand, we have no room for error, and on the other hand, we have nobody to lead by example. We have to write our own history. The Ukrainian Doctrine, proposed for nationwide discussion by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, includes a large part of the Decentralisation and Local Self-Governance. Clearly, the reform completion should include all the present-day challenges," said Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

"The further reform is impossible without the active involvement and leadership of the relevant committee, but the effectiveness of implementing the legislative decisions already adopted depends on the work of the Ministry and the active expert community," in turn, stressed Olena Shulyak, Chairperson of the Committee on State Building, Local Self-Governance, Regional Development and Urban Planning.

Oleksandra Azarkhina, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, noted that following the strategic session, the Ministry intends to continue working on the draft Roadmap for further implementation of the reform. It is to collect proposals from stakeholders and conduct thematic discussions on the most problematic topics, such as distribution of the Personal Income Tax; state regional policy instruments affecting the territorial structure; architecture of planning documents and local finance.