President Petro Poroshenko emphasises that the Ukrainian authorities continue to strengthen the legal framework of decentralisation and support capable local hromadas. He recalled that in spring the Law on Voluntary Accesion of Hromadas of villages and urban-type settlements to hromadas of oblast significance was adopted.

“It solves the problem of large cities, which are limited by the territories of villages and urban-type settlements, adjacent to them, and quite often face the problem of the lack of free territories for infrastructure development, construction of new housing districts,” said Petro Poroshenko.

At the same time, he noted that a significant part of residents of the relevant villages and settlements, working in the city and actually paying taxes to its budget, are deprived of the opportunity to use the results of socio-economic, cultural and other projects in which they invest their own money as taxpayers.

“Why did I sign this law? Because a city centre, as well as villages and settlements, which are its “satellites”, will equally benefit from amalgamation into one hromada. Village and settlement residents will receive higher quality social, administrative and other services, provided from the local budget,” said the Head of State.

Petro Poroshenko noted that “large cities will receive new territories for development. Such an amalgamation sooner or later will become a powerful impetus for the development of suburban infrastructure, networks of electric trains, buses, highways.”

According to MinRegion, during May-June, consultations on the accession of village and settlement hromadas to hromadas of cities of oblast significance were held in more than seventy cities.

“In general, the number is not big, but it is enough for the beginning, as the interest in new opportunities is raising,” said Petro Poroshenko, noting that a draft law “On Urban Agglomerations” has already been developed. “It does not infringe on anyone’s rights, but must determine the basis for the functioning of urban agglomeration as a form of cooperation between the hromada of the agglomeration centre and hromadas of villages, settlements, cities located in the zone of its economic, social and cultural influence. This will create conditions for economic growth, infrastructure and social development of both large urbanised cities and neighbouring settlements,” the President said.

According to him, the main thing in the process of AH formation, and this is of fundamental importance, is the voluntariness and mutual benefit of all the process participants. “And the state should take care of the rights and interest of the smaller and weaker in the face of the bigger and stronger. And of course here should not be any haste, we must carefully analyse and publicly discuss the very concept of the law,” added Petro Poroshenko.