The Government has allocated UAH 2.1 billion of subvention from the state budget to local budgets to form the infrastructure of 806 amalgamated hromadas in 2019. This year these hromadas have switched to direct interbudgetary relations with the state budget. It is worth mentioning that infrastructure subvention is distributed between AHs based on the formula that takes into account the hromada’s rural population number and area.

MinRegion has reported that from 2016 to 2019 inclusive, the Government allocated UAH 6.5 billion for amalgamated hromadas to develop infrastructure on their territories (UAH 1 billion for 159 AHs in 2016, UAH 1.5 billion for 367 AHs in 2017, and UAH 1.9 billion for 665 AHs in 2018). This year the volume of subvention is UAH 2.1 billion.

"Over the past three years, amalgamated hromadas implemented 6380 projects with the help of the infrastructure subvention. The funds were used to solve the problems that villages and settlements had not been solving for years: renovation of school buildings, kindergartens, outpatient clinics and rural heath posts, construction and repair of water supply and sewage systems, cultural and sport institutions, renovation and construction of roads, purchase of specialised transport, territory planning. This is by far not a complete list. But each project has something more behind – better services for hromada residents, new jobs and new experience of what really can be done if there is no fear of responsibility", commented Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services.

According to the official, the infrastructure subvention allows hromadas to quicker "get on their feet" and even stimulates them to expand, since the funds distribution formula takes into account the hromada’s rural population number and area. Vyacheslav Nehoda reminded that there are also other reform tools promoting faster development of hromadas: financial decentralisation, intermunicipal cooperation, transfer of agricultural land outside settlements into communal ownership of AH, etc.

"Hromadas are experienced and convinced that they already have ready-made projects, which they plan to implement with subvention funds, allocated by the Government today. Finally, I urge oblast state administrations to join and help hromadas, especially newly-formed ones, to prepare quality projects so that they managed to implement them this year," said Vyacheslav Nehoda.

It is worth mentioning that Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, commenting on the allocation of the infrastructure subvention, stressed that the Government is doing its job to support AHs. “Decentralisation will be implemented where it has not yet been done. Everyone should realise that,” said Volodymyr Groysman.