On the 4^th of May, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the Law on Voluntary Accession of Hromadas to Cities of Oblast Significance (draft law No 6466).

The law allows cities of oblast significance to unite neighbouring village and settlement councils around them and become the centre of an amalgamated hromada without unnecessary bureaucratic procedures and elections.

"The cities of oblast significance can finally lead the process of formation of capable hromadas. The political and economic benefits of accession are evident both for the cities and for the neighbouring urban-type settlements and villages. In addition, hromadas still make their decisions voluntarily. I think that only those, who do not understand amalgamation benefits for the development of the territory and improvement of the quality of services for the residents, will not use this mechanism. We expect the Association of Ukrainian Cities to be in charge of explanatory work in hromadas, as in particular all cities of oblast significance are its members," said Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, commenting on the adoption of the law.

The final provisions of the law state that it enters into force on 1 May 2018.

It is worth mentioning that the law was included to the list of important decentralisation draft law and was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 3 April 2018.