19 March 2024
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Administrative Service Centre (ASC)

is an office through which administrative services are provided both by local self-government bodies and by state authorities. In this case, the visitor has no direct contact with the official, who renders such a service. ASCs are set up at the level of governance closest to the residents. The local self-government body of the basic level (city, amalgamated hromada) is responsible for the operation of the ASCs.


Administrators of budget funds

are budgetary institutions represented by their leaders, who are authorised to receive budgetary allocations, make budgetary commitments and designate budget expenditures.


Amalgamated hromada (AH)

is the unification of several settlements with a single administrative centre. Any amalgamated hromada (community) with a city as an administrative centre is an urban hromada, any amalgamated hromada with an urban-type settlement as an administrative centre is a settlement hromada, and any amalgamated hromada with a village as an administrative centre is a rural hromada.


Association of citizens

is a voluntary civil society organisation created on the basis of common interests to jointly exercise the citizens’ rights and freedoms.


Boundaries of the amalgamated hromada

are the external boundaries designating the jurisdiction of councils for territorial communities (hromadas) that amalgamated.


Budget equalisation of revenues

is a system of financial equalisation that stimulates communities (hromadas) (rayons, cities of oblast significance) and regions to earn more. Out of the budgets of territorial administrative unit, with an index of tax capacity over 1.1, 50% of the excess per capita is deducted. These deductions are directed to the state budget and are generally used to provide subsidies to the budgets of territorial administrative units with the tax capacity index of less than 0.9. However, at the same time, such territorial administrative units receive only 80% from the subsidy amount that is lacking to achieve a level of tax capacity of 0.9 per capita. It means that the wealthy and less successful territorial administrative units have an incentive to earn more.


Capable hromada

is a community where local budget sources, infrastructure and human resources are sufficient for local self-government to address issues of local significance impacting the interests of the community’s residents.


Charter of the amalgamated hromada

is the main document of the amalgamated hromada adopted by its representative body to address historical, national-cultural, socio-economic and other special aspects of the local self-government.


Civil society

is the sphere of non-state social institutions and relations that go beyond the scope of state policymaking, as well as the aggregate of non-governmental organisations representing the will and interests of citizens. Elements of civil society are political parties, public associations, associations and other organisational constellations that cover all spheres of public life.


Concept of Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organisation of Power in Ukraine

is a document approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on 1 April 2014 (No. 333-p). It defines the directions, mechanisms and timeline for the formation of effective local self-government and territorial organisation of power to create and maintain a valuable living environment for residents, provide high-quality and accessible public services, establish institutions for direct democracy, satisfy the interests of residents in all spheres of life within a certain territory, and reconciling the interests of the state and local communities (hromadas).


Council of the amalgamated hromada

is a representative body of local self-government, a legal entity which is the centre administration of the amalgamated hromada. It is the successor of the rights and duties of all legal entities – village, town and city councils elected by territorial communities that amalgamated, from the day when the authority was acquired by the village, town and city councils elected by the amalgamated hromada.


Decentralisation of power

is the transfer of political and administrative powers from the state authorities to local self-government bodies. Powers, along with the finances, are transferred closer to people where they can be used most effectively. The powers are transferred together with the resources necessary for the exercise of these powers and establishment of state control over the legality of acts of local self-government.


Delegated powers

are separate powers of the state (education, healthcare, social protection, culture), the performance of which is transferred to local self-government bodies. The state retains the right to control the progress and consequences for the exercise of these powers, as well as the obligation to fund them through separate subventions and taxation.


Educational district

is the union of educational establishments, cultural and sports institutions (subjects of the district). The district may include general secondary education hub institutions of the school (hereinafter referred to as “hub institutions”) and their branches.


Effective local self-government

refers to management through which all community (hromada) members have easy access to quality services. In addition, citizens can participate in the development of territories and influence local government decisions.


Entrepreneurship Development Programme

is a nationwide programme to create favourable conditions for the activities of small and medium enterprises, supporting and developing such entrepreneurship through the introduction of innovative technologies.


European Charter of Local Self-Government

is a document adopted on 15 October 1985 under the auspices of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, which is open for signature by member states of the Council of Europe. The document came into force on 1 September 1988.

The Charter defines basic principles and mechanisms of action for self-governing bodies in the Council of Europe member states. The decentralisation of power, application of the subsidiarity principle (resolving specific problems at the level of power closest to everyday needs of people) is the main idea of ​​the charter. This is the first document of its kind, which guarantees the implementation of the subsidiarity principle. Higher administrative bodies must address specific problems only if their resolution by local administrations is ineffective or impossible. The document establishes the political and economic rights of local self-government, its independence from the central government, its duty to protect citizens from the abuse of national and pan-European bureaucracy. Principles of the Charter apply to all types of local government. Ukraine ratified the Charter on 15 July 1997.


Federalism

is a legal notion for a system of governance, as well as the movement aimed at the formation of federal states – federations, which are a form of integration of areas related geographically, historically and culturally, and united by other interests, while preserving the self-government and state status of their constituent parts. Government systems within the states are considered to be federal, when the constituent federal units have their own institutions, decision-making powers, profits (for self-government purpose), and participate in decision-making at the central level. Among the European countries, Switzerland, as well as Germany, Austria, Belgium and, to some extent, Spain are the federal states.


Financial/fiscal decentralisation

is the process for the delegation of decision-making powers to local self-government in the sphere of budget regulation to promote socio-economic development of regions. It implies the fiscal independence of local self-government authorities in decision-making as to the formation of a basis for taxes, determining the rates of relevant local taxes and fees, introducing tax incentives for economic sectors at the regional level, as well as formation of a structure for expenditures in providing public goods to the population.


General meeting

is a meeting of all or a certain number of residents from village(s), settlements or cities to address local issues. It is a form of their direct involvement in addressing issues of local significance. The decisions of the general meeting of citizens are taken into account by the local self-government bodies in their activities. The procedure for general meetings of residents at the place of their residence is determined by the law and the charter of the territorial community (hromada).


Hospital district

is an association of health facilities providing secondary medical care, which is created on the basis of criteria for the establishment of hospital districts and operates under a model regulation developed and approved by the central executive healthcare authority.


Hromada

(the concept is not legally defined) is the most basic territorial administrative unit of the local level, which consists of one or unites several settlements. Hromada is formed, as a rule, as a result of voluntary amalgamation of territorial hromadas.


Hub school

is a school with a qualified pedagogical staff that, in general, contributes to modernisation of the educational system, provides a high-level education for students, and enjoys the authority and recognition of teachers, educational society of the rayon, city, and oblast. Hub school opens branches based on the existing network of schools.


Index of fiscal budget capacity

indicates the ratio of budget revenues for territorial administrative units to the average indicator in Ukraine per capita. For incomes of communities (hromadas), rayons and cities of oblast significance, it takes 60% of the personal income tax, for oblast budgets – 15% of personal income tax and 10% of income tax.


Levels of local self-government

are as follows: regional – oblasts, sub-regional – rayons, basic – villages, settlements, cities, districts in cities (hromadas after introduction of the planned legislative changes).


Local Government Development Centre (LGDC)

is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that provides organisational, advisory and information assistance to executive authorities on the implementation of reforms in the sphere of local self-government and decentralisation of powers. It serves to strengthen institutional, administrative and expert support of the reform at the local and regional level. The work of the LGDC is also aimed at monitoring the implementation of reforms at the regional level, summarising information on problematic issues and making proposals to the Government for possible solutions.


Local government budget (local budget)

is a plan for the formation and use of financial resources necessary to ensure the functions and powers of local self-government. The local self-government body independently develops, approves and oversees the use of the local budget.


Local initiative

is the right of members from a territorial community (hromada) to introduce a consideration to the council (under local initiative procedure) of any issue assigned to local self-government competencies.


Local policy

organises the common livelihood of people living in a particular settlement.


Local referendum

is a form of addressing local issues by the territorial community (hromada) through direct expression of will from its residents. It is regulated by the Law “On All-Ukrainian and Local Referendums.”


Local self-government

is the right of a territorial community (hromada) (residents of a city, settlement or village) to voluntary amalgamation into a rural hromada of residents of several villages – to independently resolve local issues within the framework of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. This concept applies not only to the base level, but also to the sub-regional (rayons) and regional (oblast, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) levels.


Omnipresence of local self-government

is the principle according to which local self-government must be implemented throughout Ukraine at all levels. This implies the absence of territories that are not subject to the jurisdiction of local self-government bodies at all levels. This is partly a general principle of the ubiquity of power that also implies the widespread use of state power.


Own powers of the community (hromada)

involve the exercise of powers solving local issues, providing services to the population (landscaping, housing and utility services, construction, administrative services, etc.). Local self-government bodies have full discretion in exercising these powers and take precedence in bearing responsibility for them with respect to residents and the state.


Perspective Plan for the formation of community (hromada’s) territories

is the state’s vision of an effective territorial arrangement at the most basic level of local governance within the relevant oblast. The Perspective Plan was developed with the purpose of forming territorial communities (hromadas) (according to the respective types – rural, settlement, urban), local self-government bodies of which are capable of performing all the functions entrusted to them by law. The Perspective Plan must cover the whole territory of the oblast.


Plenary session of the council

is the way of organising the work of the council during the day or week as envisaged by law.


Public control

is a public inspection conducted by civil society of the state’s activities in terms of their conformity to stated goals, adjusting a given activity and goals as such, subordinating state policy, the activities of its bodies and officials to the public interest, and also, civil society overseeing the activities of the state and local self-government bodies, aimed at protecting and ensuring the rights and respect for legitimate interests of people and fundamental freedoms.


Public hearing

is the procedure regulated by the charter of the community (hromada) that refers to public discussion of the most acute issues of local significance, hromada meetings with members of local council and local self-government officials, where members of the hromada may raise questions and make suggestions on local self-government issues. These proposals are subject to mandatory review by local self-government authorities and officials.


Representative body of local self-government

is an elected body (council), composed of council members and authorised to represent the interests of a territorial community (hromada) and take decisions on its behalf in accordance with the law.


Revenues of amalgamated hromada

refer to a hromada’s own sources for revenues, as determined by law, and national taxes, fees as well as other mandatory payments enshrined as applicable. The composition of local budget revenues is determined by the Budget Code of Ukraine and the Law “On State Budget of Ukraine.”


Session of the council

is a set of plenary meetings of the council, as well as meetings of its standing commissions.


Standing commissions of the council

are the bodies elected from among council members to study and prepare the issues that fall within their jurisdiction for preliminary consideration; retain control over the implementation of decisions by the council.


Starosta

is a local self-government official in villages forming part of an amalgamated hromada. A village head is voted during elections and declared by the decision of the amalgamated hromada’s council.


Starosta’s scope of responsibility

includes representing the interests of villagers and settlement residents in the executive bodies of the village, settlement or city council; assisting villagers, settlement residents in preparing documents submitted to local self-government bodies; participating in the development of the draft budget for the hromada in terms of financing the programmes implemented in the territory of the respective village or settlement; making proposals to the executive committee of the village, settlement or city council on the issues related to the activity of executive bodies of the village, settlement, city council, enterprises, institutions, communal organisations and their officials in the territory of the respective village or settlement; carrying out other duties specified in the Regulations on Starostas.


State Fund for Regional Development (SFRD)

is a state-guaranteed financial support for regional development projects and programmes. Distribution of funds between regions is based on a clear formula, according to the number of inhabitants of the region and GDP per capita. Projects applying for the support are placed on an online platform and selected on the basis of an open competition. In the regions, the relevant commissions are established to select projects and submit them to the Government for approval.


Subsidiarity

is the principle for the organisation of state governance when issues are resolved at the level where it is most effective.


Subventions to amalgamated hromadas for infrastructure development

refer to a state-guaranteed financial support to infrastructure development projects for amalgamated hromadas. In 2016, the State Budget allocated UAH 1 billion. The subventions were distributed among the amalgamated hromadas according to a clear formula dependent upon the number of the rural population and the area of ​​the hromada. In 2016, the subvention was distributed among 159 amalgamated hromadas: from UAH 957 thousand to the smallest amalgamated hromada up to UAH 23.2 million for the largest one. In 2017, UAH 0.5 billion were included into the budget from the general fund of the state budget and UAH 1 billion – from the special fund.


Taxes paid to local budgets of the amalgamated hromadas (in percentages)

are tax revenues from local budgets of the amalgamated hromadas in accordance with amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine as of 28 December 2014, which include:

1) 60% of personal income tax;

2) 25% of the environmental tax;

3) 5% of excise tax on the sale of excisable goods;

4) 100% of the single tax;

5) 100% tax on profit of enterprises and financial institutions of communal ownership;

6) 100% tax on property (real estate, land, transport);

7) state duty;

8) payment for administrative services, administrative fines and penalties;

9) fee for a parking lot for vehicles;

10) tourist fees;

11) fees for licenses and certificates for certain types of economic activity;

12) income from rent of property complex and other property in communal ownership;

13) rent payments for use of mineral resources (including the extraction of minerals), for special use of water and water facilities, forest resources;

14) rent payments for water facilities, their parts;

15) fee for temporary deposit of free funds of local budgets (bank deposits);

16) concession fees for objects of communal ownership;

17) 75% of the compensation for losses of agricultural and forestry production;

18) 50% of the money collected for damages caused by violation of legislation on the protection of the environment as a result of economic and other activity;

19) 10% of the cost of drinking water from business entities engaged in the sale of drinking water through centralised water supply systems with deviations from the relevant standards;

20) 1.5% of the use (sale) of part of the manufactured products that remain in state property in accordance with agreements on the production sharing, and/or funds in the territory of communities (hromadas) where the relevant subsoil area (gas, oil) is located;

21) 55% of the proceeds from the sale of non-agricultural land or rights to it, which are owned by the state before the separation of state and municipal property;

22) fee for local guarantees.


Territorial community (hromada)

refers to residents united by their permanent residence within a village, settlement or city, or to a voluntary association of residents of several settlements with a single administrative centre.


Third sector

refers to a non-profit, non-governmental sector.