21^st place in the ranking of AH formation does not suits the Cherkasy Oblast. As every region of Ukraine, the Cherkasy Oblast is able to reach a leading position, stated Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services, during his working visit to the Cherkasy Oblast, where the all-Ukrainian meeting on topical issues of the state regional policy formation and implementation is currently being held.

According to the First Deputy Minister, any reform will succeed only if it is supported by people. And this support can only be obtained when people understand and see on the examples of others that decentralisation changes the living standards.

“Decentralisation is not about money and powers, it’s about every person, life quality of everyone, regardless of whether he or she lives in a village or a city. Today we have hundreds of examples of successful amalgamated hromadas and thousands of examples of qualitative changes in many sectors on their territories. Therefore, it is much easier today to inform people about the reasons of the reform implementation by the state, than it was at the very beginning. Thus, it is important that each oblast makes the best efforts to bring information to every village, city, to people. A large part of Ukrainian society supports the reform. I am convinced that such support will increase, if everyone responsible for implementing the tasks of the reform, determines the gaps in the work and fills them with real deeds,” commented Vyacheslav Nehoda.

He met with the leadership of the Cherkasy Oblast State Administration and experts from the Cherkasy Local Government Development Centre, where the parties discussed in detail the issues of implementation of the tasks of the reform of local self-government and territorial organisation of power in the region.

According to the First Deputy Minister, the Cherkasy Oblast is able to quickly take a leading position. Over the past three years, 35 AHs have been formed in the oblast, 8 of which are waiting for the decision of the CEC to appoint the first local elections. In total, the Perspective Plan for the formation of hromadas in the Cherkasy Oblast envisages 56 AHs to be established.

“Voluntariness of amalgamation is important to us – when the decision is made by people themselves, because they understand that they will get more opportunities for self-realisation, their hromadas will start to develop, their children will have a better future. And when I hear from some leaders that people do not want to amalgamate, it’s important for me to know if people really want their leaders to remain in positions and their life to have no changes for the better?” asked Vyacheslav Nehoda rhetorically.

In Ukraine there are currently 128 rayons with no AHs established. 5 of these rayons are located in the Cherkasy Oblast: the Zvenyhorod, Lysyanka, Monastyryshche, Khrystynivka, Chyhyryn Rayons. If the Monastyryshche and Zvenyhorod ones have started the process of AH formation, then in three other there is no amalgamation process.

Vyacheslav Nehoda expressed the hope that this situation is temporary and urged the leaders of the oblast and rayons to focus on the work efficiency.

Background

The perspective plan for the formation of hromadas of the Cherkasy Oblast covers 64% of the oblast territory. At the expanded governmental meeting in early April this year, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman instructed the oblast state administrations to ensure that changes to perspective plans, envisaging coverage of the entire oblast, are included, and to submit them for consideration by oblast councils.