At the beginning of each month, the ‘Decentralisation’ Portal summarises the resolutions of the Government and the Parliament on regional policy, local self-government, and community development.

March 2026 will be remembered for the active work undertaken by the Parliament and the Government to provide a legislative framework for the stable functioning of communities, expand financial support mechanisms, and carry out systematic efforts to rebuild infrastructure in cooperation with international partners. We have prepared an overview of the most important decisions and initiatives for the communities.

 

Decisions of the Parliament and its Committee

• Powers of local councils: The Verkhovna Rada Committee recommended adopting Draft Law No. 14405 as a basis, which is intended to ensure the stable functioning of local councils under martial law. The document proposes specific provisions on determining the quorum and reporting by councillors, and exempts councillors called up for military service from the obligation to attend meetings. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20533
• Law on People’s Self-Organisation Bodies: The Verkhovna Rada considered Draft Law No. 6319 on people's self-organisation bodies in its second reading, but the document did not secure the necessary number of votes. A proposal to send it for a repeat second reading was also not supported. This decision sends a negative signal to local self-government, as the law was intended to update outdated legislation in line with the reform and the challenges of wartime. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20503
• Incentives for attracting grants: The Verkhovna Rada Committee recommended adopting Draft Law No. 10284 at second reading, which allows for the establishment of additional payments to local government officials for the extra workload associated with international technical assistance and cross-border cooperation. This should help attract qualified personnel to work with grants. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20547

 

Financial support for communities: grants, subsidies, and transparency tools

• Additional subsidies for affected territories: The Cabinet of Ministers approved the allocation of UAH 273.2 million in additional subsidies to local budgets to exercise the powers of local governments in deoccupied, temporarily occupied, and frontline territories. The funds are intended to support priority expenditure in education, healthcare, and social protection. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20529
• Subsidy for bomb shelters in schools: The Government allocated a subsidy from the state budget of over UAH 2 billion to create safe conditions in general secondary and pre-school education establishments, distributed among the budgets of 24 communities and the regional budgets of Vinnytsia and Lviv regions. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20530
• Financial transparency: The Ministry of Finance updated the dashboard ‘Operational Information on Local Budget Financial Resources’, which allows communities to track revenues, transfers, and account balances. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20508

 

Classification of territories: 800+ communities identified as having specific development conditions

Two meetings of the Commission for the Assessment and Classification of Territories were held under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister Oleksii Riabykin. In compliance with the resolution of the Government, communities are classified into four functional types of territories: recovery territories, territories with special development conditions, sustainable development territories, and regional growth poles.

Currently, 885 communities have been classified as territories with special development conditions. In particular, during the meetings in March, the following were identified:

• 208 communities with a low level of socio-economic development in 19 regions;
• 85 communities have been classified as mountainous territories;
• 101 community – as forested territories;
• 199 communities – as steppe territories;
• 60 communities – as nature conservation territories;
• 232 communities – as rural territories.

‘Classifying communities according to functional types of territory is necessary in order to subsequently develop targeted support programmes for each of them. This will allow resources to be directed precisely where they are most needed. This territorial approach is a key element of the EU’s cohesion policy,’ emphasised Oleksii Riabykin.
https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20494

 

Restoration of infrastructure: Outcomes of the meetings of the Expert Working Group with the participation of the EIB

In March, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories continued the systematic selection of projects under the Ukraine Recovery Programme III, funded by a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The results of several meetings of the Expert Working Group, chaired by Deputy Minister Oleksii Riabykin, led to a significant number of projects in various regions being recommended for funding.

In total, projects in the following regions were supported:

• Kirovohrad region: 5 projects (renovation of bomb shelters in secondary schools, water supply systems, a protective structure in a nursery school, and renovation of a healthcare facility).
• Kyiv region: 12 projects (construction of a nursery school, major repairs to medical facilities and educational institutions, reconstruction of water supply networks and sewage treatment plants).
• Ivano-Frankivsk region: 7 projects (major repairs to medical facilities, reconstruction of a water pipeline, construction of a sewage network and a boiler house).
• Cherkasy region: 5 projects (major repairs to medical facilities and a lyceum, reconstruction of utility networks).
• Poltava region: 14 projects (modernisation of water supply, reconstruction of medical and educational facilities, arrangement of bomb shelters).
• Volyn region: 11 projects (reconstruction of boiler houses, educational establishments and medical facilities; creation of a barrier-free environment and a rehabilitation centre).
• Zakarpattia region: 5 projects (reconstruction of a nursery and a school; modernisation of educational and medical facilities).
• Lviv region: 6 projects (construction of sewerage networks and protective structures, reconstruction of electricity and heating supply systems and hospitals).
• Rivne region: 5 projects (major repairs to medical facilities, reconstruction of treatment plants, major repairs to heating systems and bomb shelters).
• Zhytomyr region: 7 projects.
• Vinnytsia region: 5 projects.

Special attention to frontline territories: 76 projects in frontline regions have been supported: Zaporizhzhia (4), Donetsk (2), Dnipropetrovsk (13), Mykolaiv (15), Odesa (11), Sumy (8), Kharkiv (9), Chernihiv (8) and Kherson (6) regions.

The Working Group is currently reviewing the projects. As a reminder, communities submit applications via DREAM; the system prioritises them, after which the Regional State Administrations determine the importance of the projects, and an Expert Working Group under the Ministry for Development forms a list for approval by the EIB.
https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20484
https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20502
https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20532

 

Municipal housing: Eight pilot communities selected

Eight communities successfully passed the first stage of assessment within the framework of a pilot project to create municipal (social) housing for rent. These are Lviv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Kremenchuk, Bucha, Obukhiv, and Drohobych communities. These communities will proceed to the next stage of selection from among the 25 that submitted applications.

The Project, coordinated by the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, provides for the construction of housing that will remain the property of the communities and be let at below-market rates, as defined in Government Resolution No. 796. Such housing will be available primarily to internally displaced persons, veterans, families of fallen defenders, as well as teachers, doctors, and critical infrastructure workers. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20483

 

Issues of human resources in communities: Disciplinary responsibility

The National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service (NAUCS) approved the Methodological Guidelines on the Conduct of Disciplinary Proceedings against Local Government Officials. The document was developed in line with the provisions of the new Law ‘On Service in Local Governments’ and is intended to assist heads of departments in correctly applying the rules of disciplinary law. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20499

 

International cooperation: New partnerships and resources for communities

• Cluster partnership with Poland: Five Ukrainian communities (Myrne, Mariinka, Chornobaivka, Petropavlivka) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the town of Gribów in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. The ‘one city – several communities’ format has become a pilot initiative and allows for the pooling of experience from frontline communities with European practices in securing grants. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20505
• Partnership between Vinnytsia region and a German federal state: The Vinnytsia Regional Military Administration established a long-term partnership with the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, opening up opportunities for investment and the implementation of European practices in the communities of the region. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20513
• Grants for communities in Western Ukraine: The Regional Development Agency in Ternopil region signed a Grant Agreement worth EUR 5.1 million under the Interreg NEXT Poland–Ukraine Programme 2021–2027. The Agency will act as the administrator of the Small Projects Fund for communities in Ternopil, Lviv, Volyn, Rivne, Zakarpattia, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20546

 

Progress of the ‘Shoulder-to-Shoulder’ Project

The “Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Cohesive Communities” National Project brought together over 1,100 partnerships. A meeting was held at the Ministry for Development to discuss the further development of the initiative. In 2026, the project plans to move to a new phase: expanding cooperation to the regional level and strengthening the international component. https://decentralization.ua/en/news/20527

 

To stay informed about important news, follow updates on the Decentralisation portal, our online calendar, and social media accounts on Facebook and Telegram.

Read all the most important news from the previous months in our newsletters