Overview of debates on the topic "Why should hromadas amalgamate?", held in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Author: Dmytro Synyak

The debates in Ivano-Frankivsk, devoted to the discussion of the topic of "Why should hromadas amalgamate?", were interesting, because both the "FOR" and "AGAINST" sides were represented by people who worked or are currently working as heads of rayon councils. Roman Hrynyshyn, head of the Rohatyn Rayon Council (there is still no AH in his rayon), and Vasyl Rybchak, head of the Rozhnyativ Rayon Council, assured that amalgamation in its present form is incorrect and inappropriate. Instead, Oleksandra Sheremetyeva, head of the Omelnytska AH of the Poltava Oblast, who worked for a year as the head of the Kremenchuk Rayon Council, and for 10 years – as the head of the Kremenchuk Rayon State Administration, as well as Hryhoriy Vanzuryak, head of the Hlybotska AH of the Chernivtsi Oblast, who twice served as the head of the Hlyboky Rayon Council, emphasised the benefits of amalgamation.

The "AGAINST" side was also represented by Ivan Strutynskyi, head of Yaseniv-Pilnyi village (Horodenka Rayon), and the "FOR" side – by Anatoliy Kulyk, head of the Baykovetska AH of the Ternopil Oblast. The event was organised by the Swiss-Ukrainian project "Decentralisation Support in Ukraine" (DESPRO) with the assistance of the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast State Administration and Ivano-Frankivsk Local Government Development Centre, established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme. These are the third debates, conducted by DESPRO. The issue of whether hromadas should amalgamate has been already argued in the urban-type settlement of Krasnokutsk in the Kharkiv Oblast and in the city of Zhovkva in the Lviv Oblast.

The tactics of those AGAINST amalgamation was as follows. They sought out problematic, in their opinion, directions of AHs' life and inflicted "pointwise" blows on them. However, the general nature of the questions, asked by the representatives of the AGAINST side, showed that they have very little knowledge of the topic, therefore, they cannot choose the "points" correctly.

The full version is available in Ukrainian – please click HERE