Decentralization Reform in Ukraine - digest January-March 2019

1. During January-March 2019, the DB updated its Terms of Reference and revised the architecture of the
WGs, in order to clearly distinguish and redefine the links between the strategic level (discussions and deci-
sions of the Board) and the technical coordination process (that takes place between the Minregion, other
Ministries and agencies and the international technical assistance projects at the level of WGs under the
DB’s auspices).
The Donor Board Secretariat supported the WGs in reviewing the Common Results Framework (CRF), in
order to update and align it with the new Minregion’s Operational Plan for 2019-2021, elaborated in the
framework of the new decentralization reform Roadmap announced in December 2018 by the Prime
Minister.
Priorities of the WGs that gained prominence in the updated CRF in line with the Minregion’s Operational
Plan include:
ADMINISTRATIVE TERRITORIAL REFORM AND DECENTRALIZATION LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Provision of expert support for further elaboration
of the regulatory framework on improvement of
local self-governance and the territorial organization
of power in Ukraine (namely, the territorial adminis-
trative division), which are necessary for the imple-
mentation of the new stage of the reform in accor-
dance with the provisions of the Decree of the Cabi-
net of Ministers of Ukraine #77 of January 23, 2019,
following expert and public discussions of legal
adjustments. In particular, the complexity of draft-
ing new editions of the Laws of Ukraine “On Local
Self-Government in Ukraine” and “On Local State
Administrations”, as well as the amendments to the
Law of Ukraine “On Central Executive Bodies”
require coordination with WG2 in the elaboration of
recommendations on financial provisions for trans-
ferred and redistributed powers between the execu-
tive authorities and local self-government authori-
ties that should be further reflected in the Budget
and Tax Codes.
The WG stressed the importance of advocating the
draft laws “On Local State Administrations”, the
amendments to the Land Code, to ensure the
spread of the authority of local self-governments on
the whole territory of the community in accordance
with the principle of ubiquity of local self-govern-
ment, determined by the European Charter of Local
Self-Government, as well as developing method-
ological recommendations for the formation of
administrative territorial units of sub-regional level,
updating the methodology for forming such units at
basic level and introducing a mechanism for regis-
tration of administrative territorial units.
1
Decentralization
Reform in Ukraine
Donor Board on Digest
January-March 2019
General Outlook
THIS IS THE SIXTH QUARTERLY DIGEST ISSUED BY THE SECRETARIAT OF THE DONOR BOARD (DB) ON DECENTRALIZATION REFORM AT THE MINISTRY
OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNAL SERVICES OF UKRAINE (MINREGION).

2. Among pending priorities for the current year, along
with the Minregion’s Operation plan, the group iden-
tified the following: advocating for the draft Law “On
Local Referendums”, amendment of the Law “On
Local Elections” and finalization and dissemination of
the methodological recommendations on the
statutes of hromadas. The WG has also discussed
activities related to local elections and establishing a
sub group under the auspices of OSCE that will focus
on developing legislation on local elections.
3LOCAL DEMOCRACY
The WG members reviewed the CRF from the point
of view of the following priorities of the Minregion’s
4REGIONAL AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
In line with the Minregion's Strategic plan priorities
(development of the network of the Territorial
Administrative Service Centers across the country
through their modernization, (re)construction, stan-
dardization and methodological support) the group
defined several issues requiring coordination. These
include: defining indicators of accessibility to admin-
istrative services; collaboration with the Ministry of
Social Policy and an integrated approach to provi-
sion of administrative and social services; and
inter-agency coordination of issues related to hrom-
adas’ registries.
5.1 Administrative Services
5.2 Municipal Services / 5.3 Humanitarian
policy / 5.4 Healthcare Services /
5.5 Public Security
The general strategy of the DB towards further
support of the Minregions’ efforts on sectoral
decentralization needs to be reviewed; this will have
direct implications for further functioning of the
sectoral WGs under the auspices of the DB. In coop-
eration with other Ministries, the Minregion has
defined areas for sectoral decentralization related
to the Minregion’s mandate (including health, social
protection, culture, etc.), advancement of which
would be difficult without international technical
assistance.
5PUBLIC SERVICE PROVISION
Among other pending priorities is the adoption of
the following draft laws by the Verkhovna Rada of
Ukraine: “On the Foundations of Administrative
Territorial Structure” (#8051) and “On Introduction
of Amendments to the Law On Local Self Govern-
ment in Ukraine” (#9515), which determines the
concept of a territorial community, as well as the
draft law “On Introduction of Amendments to the
Law of Ukraine “On Regulation of City Building Activi-
ties” (#6403), which allows hromadas to implement
spatial planning.
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT FINANCES
AND BUDGETING2The WG reviewed the controversies around the bud-
gets of amalgamated hromadas that adjoined to the
city of oblast significance and pointed to a need to
synchronize approaches and coordinate positions of
the Minregion, the Ministry of Finance and the Local
Self-Governance Associations on this issue. The Min-
istry of Finance emphasized the deficit of competent
finance specialists in hromadas and called interna-
tional projects to give attention to improving finan-
cial management abilities of hromadas staff through
training courses, advisory and coaching support and
on-line consultations, the content of which should be
well coordinated with both the Minregion and the
Ministry of Finance.
Operational plan and the future State strategy for
regional development till 2027: state regional policy
reform, regional strategic planning system improve-
ment with the use of Smart specialization, regional
development support structures and management
efficiency, cross-border cooperation. The Minregion
stressed a need to align international assistance in
the form of expertise, experience sharing, and com-
munication support with those priorities. Among
issues requiring attention in the short term two were
identified: synchronization of methodologies to local
development planning applied by different actors
and coordinating them with the new regional plan-
ning approaches, and integrating SDGs into regional
development planning and monitoring.
Digest January-March 2019
Decentralization
Reform in Ukraine

3. Issues requiring donors and the Minregions’ attention
include:
Strategic and operational decisions pertaining to
the possibility of supporting the implementation of
that part of the Minregions’ Operational plan relat-
ed to sectoral decentralization in coordination with
other relevant Ministries.
Review of the WGs coordination arrangements and
the implications for the Minregion’s capacity to
manage and coordinate the reform following the
recent changes to the Central Office of Reform,
supported by the ULEAD program.
Discussing regional development agendas and that
inter-ministerial and multi-stakeholder coordina-
tion be a topic proposed for the next DB meeting in
May 2019.
Pending issues requiring attention
The WG has reviewed the Reform Communication
Strategy and the CRF to meet the urgent demands
related to promoting the reform of local self-govern-
ment and decentralization processes, namely, a
number of draft laws that are prioritized by the Minre-
gion’s Operational plan (see priority laws referred to
by WG 1) and that would accelerate the reform imple-
mentation, as well as monitoring the results of the
reform and the way they are perceived by the popula-
tion of Ukraine.
6.1 Communication
The WG members briefly discussed the plans of all
key international assistance projects with regards to
6.2 Training System, Knowledge and
Professional Development Management
capacity-building of hromadas, as well as the plans of
the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service. They
agreed on the need to establish a better understand-
ing of the common package of provided assistance,
including coverage, content and capacity-building
modalities. The discussion also revealed a need to
establish cooperation and communication between
the providers of educational services, projects and
programs of international technical support, Nation-
al Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service and the corre-
sponding bodies of power. The cooperation and
communication should also address the issue of
using the platform for knowledge management,
which aims to correlate the demand and the offers of
training services for the representatives of public
authorities.
6COMMUNICATION, TRAINING SYSTEMS AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Digest January-March 2019
Decentralization
Reform in Ukraine