On 16 September 2025, the Swedish-Ukrainian Polaris Programme, ‘Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine’, held an interregional forum in Rivne entitled ‘Development of Administrative Services: From Community to Region’. The event brought together representatives of government bodies, heads of Administrative Service Centres from various regions of Ukraine and experts in administrative services.

During the event, the results of the Polaris Programme’s pilot initiative, which aimed to support the development of the ASC network at regional level in the Rivne and Mykolaiv regions, were presented. The Polaris Programme also presented a new e-service called ‘Roadmap for ASC Development’.

Over 180 participants were welcomed by Oleksandr Koval, Head of the Rivne Regional State Administration, Maryna Bobranitska, Head of the System Development Department for Administrative Services at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Susanna Dellans, Head of the Polaris Programme Team and SALAR International representative in Ukraine.

Roman Matviichuk, Polaris Programme administrative services expert, emphasised that this service helps centre managers obtain recommendations for planning further development:

The ‘Roadmap for the Development of ASCs’ assists centre management in assessing the current situation and receiving automatic recommendations for development. This e-service also provides an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of ASCs. Once the questionnaire has been completed, the user receives a roadmap that can be used as a basis for taking further practical steps. Our task is to ensure that all of Ukraine’s more than a thousand ASCs have the opportunity to use this tool for growth and to adapt to citizens’ needs.

The CDTOs of the Rivne, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions shared their experiences in developing administrative services.

‘From February to August 2025, in cooperation with the Rivne and Mykolaiv Regional State Administrations and in coordination with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Polaris Programme supported the formation of a vision for the development of ASCs by preparing roadmaps for their development and provided support in the formation of a Model Regional Action Plan to promote and support the development of ASCs.

Nine communities in the Rivne region have signed memoranda of cooperation, specifically on the creation (4), development (4) and organisation of mobile service provision (1),’ said Oleksandr Tereshchenko, Deputy Head of the Rivne Regional State Administration for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalisation (CDTO).

Viacheslav Bazarenko, Deputy Head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, presented Ukraine’s first regional-level AI assistant, Khvylka, to the participants:

‘This is Ukraine’s first regional-level digital assistant, operating 24/7. It has an AI database that provides a wide range of information, including the history of the region and a list of all the public services and appointments available at the Administrative Services Centre.’

The forum agenda included a panel discussion entitled ‘Multilevel Governance in the Field of Administrative Services: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects’, a presentation of ASC best practices, and a World Café discussion on integrating services into ASCs, inclusivity, human rights and gender equality, veteran support, ASC staff training, and balancing centralisation and decentralisation of services.

The forum in Rivne confirmed that multilevel dialogue and cooperation are key to the development of administrative services and the creation of modern, citizen-centred services.