The public debates on "Why should hromadas amalgamate?" were held in the town of Zhovkva, Lviv Oblast. Within four rounds of a fierce word struggle, the party advocating amalgamation won a convincing victory, having increased its supporters in the hall by 16%.

Author: Dmytro Synyak

The public debates on "FOR" and "AGAINST" voluntary amalgamation of hromadas, held last Friday in Zhovkva town of the Lviv Oblast, should have been called in a different way. This was emphasised several times by the “AGAINST” side, stating that they were not at all against hromadas’ amalgamation and did not agree with the "FOR" side only in some moments.

The hall audience that included heads and deputies of local councils, representatives of teaching and medical teams of the Zhovkva, Yavoriv, Brody, Pustomyty, Zolochiv and other rayons of the Lviv Oblast was more categorical. Thus, at the beginning of the debate 35% of the respondents replied "No" to the presenter’s question "Do you support the process of hromadas’ amalgamation?" (the participants voted with special small pads). However, at the end of the debate, the picture was already different: only 19% of those present in the hall voted against amalgamation.

The event was organised by the Swiss-Ukrainian project "Decentralisation Support in Ukraine" (DESPRO) with the help of the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, as well as the Zhovkva Town Council. This is the second DESPRO’s event of such kind: the first was successfully held last month in the urban-type settlement of Krasnokutsk of the Kharkiv Oblast.

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