Awarding of the finalists of the photo contest “Big pictures of small places: my hromada – my future” is an extremely important event. It is a testimony to the fact that the country is working on a single common idea – to make life in hromadas better and to show a completely different perspective for our children, where you can learn, grow and plan your future, emphasised Hennadii Zubko, Vice-Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, during the awarding ceremony of the photo contest.

“One of the important current tasks for Ukraine is to show the young generation that it is possible not only to develop the infrastructure, but also their perspective in their hromadas. And decentralisation is a decisive tool in this process, as in addition to powers and finances, it enables the youth to manifest itself and move to power in their hromadas, make decisions and fulfill them,” said Hennadii Zubko.

The official stressed that Ukraine is changing today due to international partners and takes the best European experience in administrative service from Sweden, in management and energy efficiency from Germany, in electronic governance from Estonia, in administrative and territorial system from Poland and Switzerland. Hennadii Zubko expressed his gratitude to the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, working with Ukraine and supporting the implementation of an important decentralisation reform.

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The photo contest was held from 23 April to 20 May 2018 at MinRegion’s initiative. It was organised by the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, which is a partner of MinRegion in the implementation of the decentralisation reform in Ukraine.

The purpose of the photo contest was to show that every corner of Ukraine is worthy of attention and can serve as an example of how transformations in the course of the decentralisation reform make life better, raise the level of local patriotism and reveal the enormous human potential of the residents of amalgamated hromadas, 742 of which have already been established in Ukraine.

Almost 1000 amateur photographers from all oblasts of Ukraine became the participants of the contest, and their photos are placed on a specially created website www.hromady.photos.

The jury reviewed over 1200 photo works and selected 24 winners from all regions of the country, who represent both large cities, such as Kryvyi Rih or Odesa, and the smallest AHs that consist of several villages. Pavlo Katerynych from the village of Lysohirka of the Kodyma Rayon of the Odesa Oblast became the main winner.

After the official awarding ceremony, the photo exhibition with 24 winning photos will travel around Ukraine.