Regions-leaders in the implementation of the local self-government reform tasks laid the foundation for the sustainable development of the territories. Without losing pace, such regions are already shaping the environment, favourable and comfortable for life, business, investments – all that can accumulate people as the most important resource, stated Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services, during the Regional Development Forum “Neighbourhood Fair” with the participation of amalgamated hromadas, held in the city of Dnipro.

He noted the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast as a region, where coordinated team work in the format of “executive authorities – local self-government – the public” achieved good results. There are 61 AHs formed in the oblast. The process continues. The main emphasis is on ensuring hromadas’ capacity. By the way, at the “Neighbourhood Fair”, the AHs of the oblast presented projects they have managed to implement during the year – 177 projects in various spheres, which is three times more than last year.

“Hromadas are becoming economically strong and give a good example for the others to follow. 61 AHs of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast are the leaders, who believed in the reform and wer not afraid of responsibility. The future of the country is shaped by such hromadas. There are those, whose capacity still needs improvement. An accession mechanism is in place and it has to be used,” said Vyacheslav Nehoda.

He focused on the fact that both the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Ukraine have recently stated that decentralisation remains the priority of the state.

“This way is irreversible. I appeal to those who are still considering whether it is worth to join the reform, or maybe simply do not want to be involved in it: you need to realise that the more hromadas slow down the process of capable AH formation, the worse it is for these hromadas. They lose time and resources. There should not be a situation, when some hromadas are developing, while others are running in place. By 2020 we have to form a new territorial basis for local self-government. There is still enough time to assess the situation and take advantage of the tools provided by the local self-government reform,” said the First Deputy Minister.

As of today, 835 AHs have been formed in Ukraine, 130 of them are waiting for the decision of the CEC to appoint the first local elections. Recently, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman have said that decentralisation as a fundamental reform of the transfer of administrative powers and financial capabilities will continue, but the local self-government is required to convert the transferred resource into a new quality of life for people.

More information about the Regional Development Forum “Neighbourhood Fair” can be found HERE