The communities begin to use the cooperation mechanism more actively, which mechanism allows them resolving shared problems at the local level by pooling resources and efforts of several local communities. Only in the last month, the communities entered into five such agreements. In general, already 458 communities have been cooperating with each other. Totally, they have entered into 95 agreements in the areas of housing and communal services, improvement of territory, fire protection, education, health care, social security, etc.

It was said so by First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Viacheslav Nehoda commenting the Monitoring data regarding the process of power decentralisation and reforming local self-government over the eight months of 2017, which monitoring was carried out by the Ministry of Regional Development.

"There are issues that can hardly be settled even by a powerful community without assistance. For instance, collection, processing, and disposal of household waste, provision of centralised water supply and water disposal. This requires ample resources, far from every city can afford, not to speak of villages. Over last two years, the communities showed, for the most part in Poltava region, the way how to successfully resolve shared problems by pooling efforts through entering into cooperation agreements. And now, when there exists the experience that others may draw on and use, this mechanism begins to be more popular", Viacheslav Nehoda noted.

He also noted that neither community amalgamation processes had suspended as well. Over the last month, additional 160 village, town, and city councils came close to the final stages of amalgamation, more than 40 of the established ATCs are already awaiting the decision of the Central Elections Commission on calling the first elections.

"Local leaders have understood that delayed amalgamation means not only the loss of time, resources and opportunities, but also the loss of credibility with the voters. Obviously, the amalgamation is not a plaster for all sores, however, the decentralisation provides in sufficiency other mechanisms for dealing with local issues. However, when the development is concerned rather than sticking plaster solutions, the transfer to a new level of territory management rather than working as before, then there are no alternatives to the amalgamation. And until that process is voluntary, only short-sighted leaders of communities would fail to make use of it", Viacheslav Nehoda commented.

It is a reminder that, in August of 2017, the Ministry of Regional Development initiated monthly monitoring of the process of power decentralisation and reforming local self-government, which monitoring, in addition to achievements of the reform, allows determining its weak points, seeing which support is required and which aspects of work are needed to be strengthened by local self-government bodies and local state administrations.

You can find the monitoring HERE