The Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Oblast State Administration presented an updated еру “Decentralisation Atlas”, which shows the perspective plan for the formation of hromadas’ territories and the process of voluntary amalgamation of hromadas of the Zaporizhzhya Oblast in terms of administrative-territorial units.

The "Decentralisation Atlas" contains information on population, area, administrative boundaries of rayons, cities of oblast subordination, centres of amalgamated hromadas, list of local councils that are part of the hromada. The pages of the Atlas also provide information about the heads of the newly formed AHs, where the first local elections took place, and the hromadas that are waiting for the first local elections in 2018.

According to the Directorate, the first AHs in our region were established in 2015, and now the Zaporizhzhya Oblast ranks third in the country by the pace of AH formation. 48 out of 67 AHs, planned by the perspective plans, have been formed in the oblast so far, without taking into account the cities of oblast significance. There are three rayons in the region – the Velyka Bilozerka, Orikhiv, Chernihivka Rayons – are completely covered by hromadas, and these territories are already developing healthcare, education and infrastructure on the ground. The process of amalgamation reached 99% in the Kamyanka-Dniprovska, Mykhaylivka, Rozivka, Yakymivka and Vesele Rayons. However, there are rayons with much lower pace of AH formation. For example, the Nova Mykolayivka Rayon is the only one in Zaporizhzhya Oblast with no AH formed so far.

In addition, on April 29 this year, seven newly formed AHs held elections of the heads and deputies of local councils. Information on the newly formed hromadas and the contacts of their heads are also included in the Decentralisation Atlas.