The reform of decentralisation of power, introduced five years ago, gave impetus to local self-government development and provided resources that no more need to be asked for in Kyiv, but should be invested in a new quality of life directly on the ground, said Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman at the Governmental meeting.

“I had a great privilege of presenting the Decentralisation Reform Concept in April 2014. We stepped on a difficult yet necessary path to carry out decentralisation and form a strong local self-government. And we have a positive result. In the old system, everything was decided by the central authorities, and today the decision is taken by local hromadas. Until 2014, citizens were excluded from decision-making process. Today, we have concentrated resources at the local level, and each hromada has opportunities that allow not to ask from Kyiv, but to rebuild their own cities and villages,” said Volodymyr Groysman.

He noted that investments in quality of life is not only about economy, but also culture and development of creative industries. Thus, as the Head of Government reminded, the project “Small Cities – Great Impressions” is being implemented in Ukraine. Last year it was carried out in a pilot mode. This practice will be spread and strengthened this year. Details of this work were presented by Yevhen Nishchuk, Minister of Culture of Ukraine.

“What is our strength? Among other things – creative industries. Ukrainians are extremely creative, and we need to form an environment, where these industries could develop – not only in big cities, but also in small ones,” said Volodymyr Groysman. “Ukraine is not just a place on the map, but a large 45-million country.”