Two draft laws No 6466 and No 6636, that are extremely important for the continuation of decentralisation in Ukraine, were introduced in the agenda of the plenary meeting on 22 March.

Draft Law No 6466 on amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On voluntary amalgamation of hromadas" provides the opportunity for hromadas to join to cities of oblast significance without conducting the first elections throughout the AH. Approval of the draft law is expected by 182 cities of oblast significance, around which new AHs may be formed.

The approval of this draft law is supported by the key stakeholders: Association of the Ukrainian Cities, Government, experts and civil society. The draft law was finalised by the specialised Parliamentary Committee on Local Self-Government and recommended for adoption as a whole.

Draft Law No 6636 introduces the mechanism for changing boundaries, formation and liquidation of rayons with the purpose of forming a rational subregional level of administrative-territorial structure in accordance with the provisions of the Concept of the Local Self-Government Reform. The document is recommended to be adopted as the basis by the specialised Parliamentary Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government.

Settlement of the issue of rayons’ liquidation, setting and change of their boundaries in the context of the decentralisation reform is extremely important today. There are currently 16 rayons in Ukraine, completely covered by amalgamated hromadas. More than half of the territory of 112 rayons is covered by AHs, which makes up 25% of the total number of rayons in the state.

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations Reanimation package of reforms called on the MPs to adopt draft laws No 6466 and No 6636, which will ensure legal conditions and facilitate the continuation of the voluntary amalgamation of hromadas in particular, as well as successful implementation of decentralisation in Ukraine on the whole.