On 20 March, a modern ASC was opened in the village of Kochubeyivka, Kherson Oblast, that will provide over 100 types of administrative services to the hromada, including the most essential in the AH: registration of residents, notarial services, social and pension services, land services, local services, business and real estate registration, as well as even passport services.

The Ukrainian and Swedish experts from the U-LEAD with Europe Programme joined the establishment of the Centre and assisted in the institutional modernisation of the ASC, renovation of its interior, as well as furnishing of the center and its equipment with modern appliances and specialised software. It is worth noting that the hromada purchased passport equipment, installed in the new premises of the Centre, on their own.

The ASC of the Kochubeyivska AH became another example of the effective partnership between the hromada and international donor programme. The ASC specialists have passed advanced training specially developed within the framework of the Programme.

Susanna Dellans, Project Manager of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme’s Support to Improved Administrative Service Delivery, noted: "Due to decentralisation, hromadas has become more empowered and, at the same time, more responsible for their development. Providing high-quality administrative services for the residents is one of the key tasks of local authorities. We are very glad that the Kochubeyivska hromada has joined our Programme and congratulate its residents on the opening of the modernised Centre. I am sure that the AH members will now receive only high-quality administrative services within comfortable conditions."

Ivan Dudar, head of the Kochubeyivska AH, expressed his gratitude to the partners of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme: "We are very pleased that our hromada had a great opportunity to join the Programme, due to which we have opened a modern and comfortable administrative service centre. We are sincerely grateful to the Swedish and Ukrainian experts of the Programme, because now, due to the best European practices, we will be able to qualitatively raise the level of administrative services delivery to the residents."

On the eve of the opening, the residents were informed about the features of the ASC work, its advantages, rights and obligations of employees and consumers of services. The Centre is accessible to people with disabilities and has a children’s indoor play corner.

It is worth reminding that 26 ASCs will be opened in Ukrainian amalgamated hromadas within the framework of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme which aims at improving the delivery of local administrative services. The best practices for creating and improving the delivery of administrative services that are tested and implemented in the pilot hromadas of the inception phase will be applied to all ASCs to be opened or modernised within the next phase of the Programme. That is at least 600 ASCs by the end of 2020.