Mountainous territories of Ukraine require special attention from the state. This is confirmed by the data of monitoring of the socio-economic development of mountainous settlements as of 1 January 2019 (DOWNLOAD), prepared by the MinRegion.

Vyacheslav Nehoda, head of the relevant working group, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services, commented on the particular problems to be overcome in order to create favourable conditions for mountainous territories’ development.

“According to our data, at the beginning of the year there were 25 amalgamated hromadas, including mountainous settlements. It is not so many, since in Ukraine there are 714 settlements having the status of the mountainous area: 240 – in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, 214 – in the Zakarpattia Oblast, 196 – in Lviv Oblast, and 64 – in the Chernivtsi Oblast. Therefore, it is important that these territories become active participants in the local self-government reform and form capable local self-government. This will give the locals new opportunities for the development of territories. But, given the specifics of such settlements, the reform will only partially solve their problems,” said Vyacheslav Nehoda.

MinRegion notes that the mountainous territories’ development issue depends not only on the amount of funds.

“It is important to have a strategic, comprehensive vision of what and how should be done to radically change the life of the highland residents. There should also be hard-coated roads and other necessary utilities, and there is also a need for affordable, high-quality educational, medical services. It’s basic. And people still need work, cultural, sports development and much more, which in complex create comfort, safety and stability. If we look closely at the monitoring data, then we’ll see that all the abovementioned is not yet observed in the mountainous settlements. However, last year, when the Government prioritised the development of these territories among others, the situation began to change for the better. But this is just the beginning of the path,” said Vyacheslav Nehoda.

He recalled that on 3 April , the Government approved the Concept for the Development of Mountainous Territories of the Ukrainian Carpathians for 2019-2027. MinRegion has already begun to elaborate a detailed action plan for the implementation of this document.

“We focus primarily on the needs and interests of highland residents. The settlements in the Carpathians have many advantages over others and we will all help them to use these advantages for the benefit of people. I hope that the public and local government will support us in this. Only together will we achieve the goal,” added the First Deputy Minister.

Viacheslav Nehoda stressed that the joint task of MinRegion, Oblast State Administrations and local self-government bodies is to prepare and submit for Government’s approval an action plan for the implementation of the Concept for the Development of Mountainous Territories of the Ukrainian Carpathians for 2019-2027 within a six-month period.

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