“The regional development policy of the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine should be based on state support of hromadas that have all the planning documentation necessary for sustainable development of the territories. The state will not fund projects that have no prospects for hromada development,” said Alyona Babak, Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

“We need to change the principles of support coming from the State Fund for Regional Development. Funding should only occur if the criteria for the feasibility and optimality of the projects are met. The state will support projects that are really significant for hromada development, not co-finance small repairs. In order to receive funding from the SFRD, hromadas must have master plans for settlements, perspective plans for location of hub schools, outpatient clinics, ASCs, as well as projects for optimisation of water and heat supply schemes, sanitation and more. Without proper territory development planning, there will be no support from the SFRD. This is the stance that we will implement in the Governmental programme of activities, regional development programme and SFRD. That is why I very much ask the regions to understand that this is the only way we will build a strong state, otherwise we will constantly patch holes,” Alyona Babak emphasised.