The village council of Pokrovske near Mariupol paid attention to the issues related to decentralisation and amalgamation processes at its regular session for the first time. The plenary meeting of the session was attended by 7 out of 14 deputies, and with account of the village head, a quorum was gathered. About 30 local residents came to listen to deputies and learn about the decision on further hromada’s amalgamation.

Representatives of the Donetsk Local Government Development Centre, established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, participated in the session of the Pokrovske village council, held on 3 August.

There were three variants of AH formation in Pokrovske: to amalgamate with the neighbouring village of Berdyanske into a small hromada with its centre in the village of Pokrovske, amalgamate with Manhush and join the large hromada in the entire Manhush Rayon, or to join Mariupol.

The deputies, along with the village head, agreed on the date and place of the public discussion, agreed with the head's request to conduct hearings on all three proposals at once. However, the discussion reached a deadlock, when it turned out that there was only one initiative in force, namely the accession to Mariupol. The proposals to amalgamate with Manhush or Berdyanske arrived a long time ago, and the 30-day deadline for their consideration has already expired.

What should hromada do in this situation? The Donetsk LGDC experts advised to decide on the appointment of consideration of proposals, and while preparing for public discussions, consider the renewed initiatives to amalgamate with Manhush and Bardyanske.

None of the proposed options satisfied the village head, and he decided to close the session, promising to hold a new plenary meeting on Monday, 6 August.

It was planned that the new session will be held on Monday, at 5pm. But this did not happen again, moreover, village head Leonid Suprun went on vacation. The amalgamation process in the village near Mariupol was slowed down again.

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