“In the Mykolaiv Oblast, 41 amalgamated hromadas have already been established, 28 of them have already had their first local elections (the Voznesenska urban hromada has passed the simplified amalgamation procedure as a town of oblast significance). The AHs in the Mykolaiv Oblast account for more than a half of the rural population and 50% of the oblast territory”, reports Valentyn Boyko, director of the Mykolaiv Local Government Development Centre established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme and MinRegion.

This year, 13 hromadas have been established, 12 of them amalgamated voluntarily and one joined an already existing AH. The amalgamation process is under way in 17 of 19 rayons in the Mykolaiv Oblast. However, the decision of the Central Election Commission sets more hurdles on the way of decentralisation and makes it impossible to conduct the planned local elections in the new AHs in October 2018.

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