On 21 June, a meeting between the G7 ambassadors and leaders of amalgamated hromadas of the Chernihiv Oblast was held at the Chernihiv Local Government Development Centre, established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme and MinRegion.

The ambassadors of the G7 countries intended to learn more about the success of decentralisation in Ukraine from the reform participants themselves, namely the leaders of the AHs of the Chernihiv Oblast. Serhiy Harus, Ivanivka village head, Valentyna Karpenko, Parafiyivka settlement head, Nataliya Khalimon, Kulykivka settlement head, Ratan Akhmedov, Koryukivka mayor, Serhiy Pinchuk, Lyubech settlement head, and Andriy Portnyi, Sosnytsia settlement head, joined the discussion.

Iryna Kudryk, Director of the Chernigiv LGDC, presented the decentralisation results in the region. She paid particular attention to hromadas’ financial performance and their successes.

Each leader present at the meeting had the opportunity to present his/her hromada, share its achievements and successes, discuss the problems and challenges faced each day. They talked about the allocation of land, duality and triality of power in hromadas-rayons, imperfection of legislation related to AH activities, the healthcare and educational reform, development of tourism potential, and attraction of foreign investments.

The participants of the meeting discussed the need of international partners’ support in front of the Government and Parliament of Ukraine of the adoption of draft laws on the administrative-territorial system, transfer of land resources to hromadas, preservation of stability of state subventions and subsidies for the execution of powers delegated by the state.

British Ambassador Judith Gough was particularly interested in the topic of gender representation among AH leaders. She noted that, according to her observation, heads of AHs are mostly men, and there the number of women in self-government in much less.

“It is very pleasant that such a respectable delegation visited the Chernihiv Oblast with a working visit. Communication with the G7 ambassadors in a relaxed atmosphere is an important step for our AH heads. They had the opportunity to speak frankly about the successes and achievements of hromadas. I hope that this meeting will foster the development of our AHs,” said Iryna Kudryk.

Background:

The G7 Ambassadors Support Group to Ukraine was established following the 2015 Elmau G7 Summit to ensure progress on Ukraine’s economic reform process through coordinated advice and assistance to the Ukrainian authorities. With a view to assisting Ukraine in its reforms efforts, in January 2018 the G7 Ambassadors Support Group to Ukraine, currently chaired by Canada, announced a Framework of Priorities for 2018. This Framework is based on the strategic objectives and key actions of the Ukrainian Government’s Medium-Term Priority Action Plan to 2020 and will be reviewed following evolving needs and emerging priorities of the country.