Starting from August this year, MinRegion has excluded the parameter of the total number of AHs, formed in the region, from the ranking of oblasts on formation of amalgamated hromadas.

“We have repeatedly noted that the number of AHs cannot be an indicator of oblast’s success or failure in formation of capable hromadas. Therefore, we decided to disregard this indicator in the ranking,”

Commented MinRegion’s Monitoring data Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services.

According to him, oblasts should not forget about the quality of hromadas and the need to adhere to the Governmental Methodology in the pursuit of quantitative indicators. The main indicator of success in the process of AH formation should be the number of people living in newly formed hromadas as the main resource and a sign of development capacity of new hromadas.

For example, 37 AHs were formed in the Vinnytsia Oblast, but 19 of them, i.e. 51%, are small hromadas with less than 5,000 people. In Zaporizhzhia Oblast 24 out of 50 AHs (48%) are small hromadas. In Poltava Oblast, 22 out of 44 AHs (50%) are small. The population of the half of AHs of the Mykolayiv, Ternopil and Cherkasy Oblasts do not exceed 5 thousand people.

“After we changed the approach to ranking, these regions lost a few points in it. I believe that this should not disappoint, but encourage everyone involved in the process of establishing capable hromadas to focuse on quality. We must also see the future of these hromadas, taking into account the various factors affecting human resources. We are all interested in creating a comfortable environment for people everywhere in Ukraine. And the more powerful the AHs are, the easier and faster it will be achieved,” said Vyacheslav Nehoda.

Earlier, Hennadii Zubko, Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, stated: “This year, we will change the approach to the criteria of hromadas’ amalgamation. The quality of AHs – number of people living on the territory, the area of oblast’s coverage by hromadas, financial indicators, AH capacity – and no longer their number, is crucial for the country.”