Decentralisation releases hromadas’ potential. Indicators demonstrating the growth of the capacity of local self-government bodies, especially amalgamated hromadas, to use the opportunities, provided by the reform, become more convincing.

“As before, the most dynamic monitoring indicator is the number of hromadas benefiting from the mechanism of intermunicipal cooperation. Over the past month, another 51 hromadas, having combined resources, began to address the issues important for the territory development. Therefore, now more than 860 hromadas are jointly implementing 199 agreements in the field of household waste management, water supply and sewage, safety, social, administrative services, etc.” noted Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, commenting on monthly monitoring of the process of decentralisation of power and the reform of local self-government, implemented by MinRegion (DOWNLOAD).

The monitoring also shows that 665 AHs prepared and approved projects for almost the entire sum of the infrastructure subvention, which makes up UAH 1.9 billion this year, in a very short time – within two months.

“Due to this, construction and repairs of communal facilities, roads, water pipes, electricity networks, landscaping of parks, public gardens, etc. will start in hromadas not in the end of autumn, or even in winter, as in past years, but now,” said the First Deputy Minister.

Vyacheslav Nehoda also reminded that in Ukraine, 128 out of 490 rayons (not including 25 occupied rayons) still do not participate in the voluntary amalgamation of hromadas, and 24% of the country's territory is still not covered by perspective plans.

“Once again, I urge the leadership of the rayons and oblasts to take an active part in formation of capable hromadas, to contribute to these processes as much as possible. We are approaching the next local elections, which will logically be conducted on a new territorial basis. And to a large extent, the way the formation of this basis will end – voluntarily or administratively – depends on us,” emphasised Vyacheslav Nehoda.

According to MinRegion, only six out of 24 oblasts: the Donetsk, Luhansk, Rivne, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi and Chernihiv Oblasts, have perspective plans for the formation of hromadas’ territories, covering 100% of the oblast territory.

The monitoring of the process of decentralisation and local self-government reform as of 10 July 2018, is available HERE